Caste politics or Priyanka's shift: What can bring fortune for Congress in the long lost bastion of UP?

While speculations are rife that UP Congress in charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is planning to shift to Lucknow, to be in the thick of the things, experts opined that she can only revive the party in UP, if she marks her presence on the ground as the Central leader in-charge of the state apart from being vocal on social media. In order to revive, Congress needs to face the challenge by fixing the gap and its non-existence on most of the districts in UP.

New Delhi: With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections just two years away, Congress party has started laying the groundwork, with a change in strategy to play caste politics again in the state, aiming to revive its political fortunes.

Along with this, UP Congress in charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has also been a 'trending' topic for months in the state due to the continuous attacks on the government as well as to the prime opposition party, BSP, through social media.

After the central government asked Priyanka to vacate her house in Lutyens' Delhi, sources close to the party revealed that she is planning to shift to Lucknow, to be in the thick of the things.

However, experts opined that she can revive the party in UP only if she marks her presence on the ground as the Central leader in-charge of the state.

"You can't form a government by fighting on social media. Priyanka Gandhi will have to work on the ground, travel to various places. People have a complaint from Congress party as they have always remained focus to just Amethi and Raebareli," said Yogesh Mishra, veteran journalist to ETV Bharat.

Venkatesh Kesari, a political analyst also suggested that Priyanka Gandhi is very active on social media but the party is not giving a tough fight to SP, BSP and BJP on the ground.

In the last few months, Priyanka Gandhi has shown an intent to lead the path alone. Recently, she even took on BSP supremo Mayawati, calling her an "unofficial spokesperson of BJP" as the latter stood with the Government's stand on China.

"The political situation of UP has completely changed after 'Mandal and Kamandal'. Congress is completely dependent on the anti-incumbency. Congress can get a space because Mulayam Singh Yadav is nowhere in the picture, his son is a product of dynasty and Mayawati is also losing her support from Dalits and Muslims," suggested Venkatesh Kesari.

The Grand Old Party has also activated on the ground in the past few months, trying to help in repairing a massive disconnect of Congress rank with the state, raising voice against the Yogi Adityanath-led UP Government's policies on various issues, including rising crime, poor law and order and misgovernance.

As per the expert's opinion, Congress has now started emerging as an opposition in the state and to get into power in UP, it needs to fight 2022 elections alone with credible faces of the party as it has seen the consequences of getting into alliance with regional parties.

They also mentioned that the shrinking vote bank of the regional parties may help Congress to at least gain a foothold in India's largest state.

Notably, Congress registered its worst-ever performance in the 2017 Assembly Elections in UP despite having a tie-up with Samajwadi Party (SP), bagging just seven seats.

Congress was decimated after the Mandal and Kamandal agitations in the late 1980s. Since then, Congress has never been able to come to power as it's electoral base comprised of a social coalition of Dalits, Brahmins and Muslims, shifted to regional parties.

"As per the party structure in UP, there is not a single leader who can appeal a particular caste or class. Even today, there is too much of caste-combination in UP. So, Congress will have to face that," asserted Mishra.

With a change in strategy to play caste politics in the state, Congress launched 'Brahmin Chetna Parishad', led by former Union Minister Jitin Prasada, in an attempt to woo Brahmins of UP. The body seeks to give a "voice" to the Brahmin community, which has been "systematically targeted" under the BJP regime.

Mentioning that the move to playing caste card in UP politics can benefit Congress in the long-run, Yogesh Mishra said, "Brahmins have a very strong vote bank in UP, they are able to form the Government in the state. But, it's going to be difficult for Congress to get Dalit vote bank in the state."

While on the other hand, Kesari suggested that Congress should stick to its original stand while trying to exploit this incumbency, anti-incumbency against the government.

"Ideally, Congress has never played a caste card, so far, like SP and BSP. While BJP has played the Hindutva card. There is no point of playing caste card because if Congress does that, other parties will do the same. Then, Congress will not emerge as an alternate," he stated.

To revive the party in the upcoming polls, Congress needs to face the challenge by fixing the gap and its non-existence on most of the districts in UP as well as its lacking in the social coalition of caste and communities of the state.