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Congress Continues Its Struggle With 'Shakti' And Much More...
BJP’s latest list full of surprises!
Kerala BJP chief K Surendran has been given the ticket to contest from Wayanad against Rahul Gandhi and claimed that Rahul will face the same outcome as Amethi.
However, Rahul Gandhi won with a margin of more than 4 lakhs in 2019 LS elections given the demographics of the seat.
Muslims make up 28.6% and Christians around 21.3% a combine of which is more than the 49.4% Hindu population.
K Surendran, though, contends that the people of Wayanad will ask why INDI Alliance leaders are contesting against each other as CPI has also fielded Annie Raja from the seat.
Meanwhile, BJP has fielded actress Kangana Ranaut from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.
As anticipated BJP has dropped Varun Gandhi from Pilibhit and given the ticket to former Congress leader Jitin Prasada. While Maneka Gandhi has been retained from Sultanpur.
From Bareilly, BJP has given the ticket to Chattrapal Singh Gangwar replacing the incumbent Santosh Gangwar. Ramayana-fame Arun Govil has been given the ticket from Meerut. Industrialist Naveen Jindal who switched from Congress has been named from Kurukshetra.
In Odisha, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will contest from Sambalpur and former spokesperson Sambit Patra from Puri.
Former Calcutta HC judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay from Tamluk in Bengal. One of the Sandeshkhali victims, Rekha Patra has been fielded from Basirhat.
Other notables include Sita Soren from Dumka and former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar from Belgaum.
Leaders who’ve been dropped include five-time MP Anantkumar Hegde and Union Minister Ashwini Choubey.
Congress’ Battle With Nari Shakti Continues!
Ever since Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on ‘Shakti’, Congress is still embroiled in a perception battle given two more developments.
One, Congress has come under fire from all corners including its own supporters for giving a ticket to Chaudhary Lal Singh from Udhampur.
In 2018, Chaudhary supported the accused in the Kathua gang rape case after which he was made to resign from the BJP.
Initially with Congress, he had switched to BJP in 2014 but was asked to resign in 2018 due to the Kathua incident.
He re-joined Congress in March 2024, days before his candidature was announced.
Two, Congress is facing criticism for objectionable Instagram post made by Congress Social Media head Supriya Shrinate attacking Kangana Ranaut.
The post had a picture of Ranaut and a mandi (marketplace). This was a reference to Kangana’s candidature from Himachal’s Mandi.
The caption and suggestion was misogynistic and derogatory. Kangana replied “every woman deserves dignity” and that “Mandi is called chota-Kashi. People of Mandi are hurt because of this derogatory remark”.
Shrinate later tried to clarify that the post wasn’t made by her personally and that several people had access to her account.
However, BJP has continued to attack Congress highlighting its disregard for Nari Shakti.
Women leaders from BJP including Smriti Irani, Khushbu Sundar, and Bansuri Swaraj have come out in support of Kangana.
NCW has also asked Election Commission for strict action against Shrinate. That Shrinate is widely seen as a loud and at times crude spokesperson, isn’t helping her case.
BJP’s solo tryst with Punjab: No more SAD, only glad!
After months of speculations, BJP has declared it would contest solo on all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab. This makes Punjab a rare four-cornered contest between AAP, BJP, Congress, and SAD.
Entry of Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Ravneet Singh Bittu, and Sunil Jhakar
Congress MP from Ludhiana, Ravneet Singh Bittu joined the BJP on March 26. He is the grandson of former Punjab CM Beant Singh.
India's former ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, recently joined the BJP. He is the grandson of Sardar Teja Singh Samundri, one of the leading figures of the original Akali movement.
These indicate a wider acceptability of BJP beyond its traditional ‘Hindu-Baniya’ vote bank.
The entry of ex-Congress leader Sunil Jhakar in 2022, and his appointment as the president of party’s state unit also seems to be helping BJP.
BJP’s changing tryst with Punjab
BJP, due to its alliance with Akalis, wasn’t seen as a viable force by Sikh community. But post their separation, the community has taken a keen interest in BJP.
For the first time BJP has been consciously building its cadre. The clear stance of the central and state leadership of not aligning with the SAD has also helped this mobilisation on the ground.
The seats in focus
Without the alliance, BJP has potential to win more seats while focusing on key battlegrounds like Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Jalandhar, and Ludhiana.
While Gurdaspur and Amritsar are BJP’s traditional bastions, Jalandhar has also been a BJP seat in the past and might become again this time.
Hoshiarpur has seen back-and-forth between BJP and Congress in the past and BJP doesn't seem very active in Hoshiarpur yet.
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