By: Dheeraj Upadhyay
Lucknow: The grand old party of India has almost lost its last electorate bastion in UP after Aditi Singh, the rebel Congress legislator from Raebareli Sadar Assembly seat, switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday.
Although it was on the cards and speculations are on rife of Aditi joining BJP since 2019, when she praised the PM Modi-led government for the abrogation of Article 370 and lauded UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for promoting solar energy and cleanliness in state. Once regarded as a close aide of Congress’ general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the 34-year-old Duke University graduate had been at odds with the party’s central leadership for her dissenting and critical remarks over the issue of national interests following the 2019 general election rout.
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Aditi was quite vocal, last week she slammed Priyanka Gandhi over her remarks, questioning the timing of repeal of the three farm laws by PM Modi before assembly elections, Aditi said that “Priyanka and Congress has lost track and they don’t have issues to politicize anymore”.
Aditi’s switchover to BJP is not an ordinary incident it’s a symbolic loss for Congress, after former party President Rahul Gandhi, lost Amethi Parliamentary constituency in 2019 General Elections to BJP’s Smriti Irani. Aditi and his late father Akhilesh Singh has been holding the fort for INC and Raebareli’s MP Sonia Gandhi for last three decades. Akhilesh Singh was the Congress MLA from Raebareli Sadar constituency from 1993 till 2007, though he retained the seat as an Independent in 2007 and from Peace Party in 2012 after INC expelled him. Aditi took over from him and won the seat for Congress in 2017 with a margin of over 90,000 votes amid BJP’s rout.
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Meanwhile, news of another Congress MLA Rakesh Singh from Raebareli’s Harchandpur assembly constituency, is also doing rounds, that he too is likely to join BJP before upcoming state elections, his brother and MLC Dinesh Singh has already switched sides from INC to BJP before 2019 Lok Sabha polls. In 2017 UP elections Congress-SP alliance has fetched INC two seats in the district one is Raebareli Sadar and another is Harchandpur.
Congress hasn’t learnt any lesson from the past exodus, even after its young and dynamic leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindhia and UP’s Brahmin face, Jitin Prasad switched loyalty and joined BJP citing neglect in the party.
