Aarti Jerath's column: Congress's strategy in UP politics is now changing

The political chessboard of UP is now starting to take shape. In this sequence, the Congress has made an interesting move and appointed a Brahmin woman Aradhana Mishra 'Mona' as the state president. This decision is a bold move of the Congress – an attempt to connect the community with itself, which has been a strong supporter of the BJP since the political scenario of UP changed from the politics of Mandal-Kamandal. The Congress is trying to challenge the same by going to the BJP stronghold. In UP, the Congress is fighting for its survival. In the 2022 assembly elections, its vote share was just over 2%. In such a situation, its attempt to break into the BJP stronghold is both ambitious and audacious. Perhaps the alleged misappropriation of donations in the Ram temple has boosted the party's morale. It remains to be seen whether the Brahmin community will go with the party it supported in the past. While they are well aware that if the BJP loses the assembly elections next year, the Congress will be in the role of a junior partner in the government to be formed under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav. In fact, the Congress seems to be returning to Indira Gandhi's politics again. It was Indira who formed the strong social alliance of Brahmin-Dalit-Minority with the help of which the Congress was able to return to power in UP in 1971. Earlier in 1967, the Samajwadi-Jana Sangh alliance of the United Legislature Party had ousted it from power. This alliance lasted till the rise of the Ram temple movement in the 1980s. But the Ram temple movement inspired a large number of Brahmins to switch over to the BJP and since then they have remained with the party. Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi had decided to try the politics of Mandal first to take on the BJP and rebuild his party in UP. He had fielded 90 OBC candidates in the 2012 assembly elections, the highest ever number from the Congress. But this strategy did not work and Akhilesh Yadav won that election. He continued to try to bring the OBC votes in his favour even after this and raised issues like caste census vigorously. But now he seems to have understood the futility of his strategy and has decided to take a lesson from his grandmother's politics. The attempt to rebuild the BDA social alliance is clearly visible in the selection of the new office bearers of the UP Congress. The state president is a Brahmin, while the working president is a Muslim (Imran Masood). One of the two senior vice-presidents (Alok Prasad) is a Dalit and comes from the Pasi community. The other senior vice-president, Devinder Nishad, is an EBC and comes from the Navik community. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's imprint on these appointments is also very clear. Anuradha Mishra 'Mona' is considered close to her. She worked closely with Priyanka in the 'Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon' campaign before the 2022 assembly elections. Imran Masood is also among Priyanka's favorite leaders. He also has a lot of influence among the Muslims of western UP. According to reports, Priyanka Gandhi has personally assured Akhilesh Yadav that before the elections next year, she will stop Imran from targeting the SP. All these developments are sending a message that Priyanka's role will remain central in the Congress's election campaign. It is also noteworthy that she has a good relationship with Akhilesh and Dimple. Dimple is now increasingly seen more active on the ground. This is part of an attempt to change the image of the SP. For the first time, the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance is taking the election seriously. Both sides know that the 2027 mandate of Uttar Pradesh will prepare the ground for the big electoral battle of 2029. (These are the author's own views)