Will the Priyanka Trump Card’ work?

New Delhi, Jan 23: Finally, the Congress President Rahul Gandhi has played his trump card ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

On Wednesday, he brought his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra into active politics and made her Congress General Secretary in-charge of East Uttar Pradesh. Another senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia has been given charge of West Uttar Pradesh.

The duo has been given a mammoth task to revive the Congress in a state that sends 80 representatives to the Lok Sabha.

Rahul himself exuded confidence that his new appointees will change the politics in UP.

Talking to media in his Lok Sabha constituency Amethi, he said we want to change politics of UP through youth leaders like Priyanka or Jyotiraditya.

"We are confident that Priyanka will bring out Congress' ideology," he said.

Whether Rahul's wish will be fulfilled or not, its answer lies in the future. Now, only the current situation can be analysed.

It's notable that Rahul plunged Priyanka into active politics when his party didn't get a place in the historic political alliance between bêtes noires Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh (UP) for upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Where does Congress stand in UP could be understood by the statement of former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

He recently said in Kolkatta that the Congress was deliberately kept out of SP, BSP and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance to correct the political arithmetic in the state.

This development cements a fact that nobody is a permanent friend or foe in politics.

Akhilesh had joined hands with Rahul in the last UP assembly elections and the alliance tasted a major defeat when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept elections and formed a majority government under the chief ministership of former Gorakhpur Member of Parliament Yogi Adityanath.

The foundation behind the SP-BSP-RLD alliance was Lok Sabha bypolls in 2018 when riding on the consolidation of Other Backward Castes (OBC), Dalit and Muslim votes; the SP snatched Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats of UP from the BJP.

Yogi Adityanath had won Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat for five successive terms and UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya was elected from Phulpur seat in 2014.

As per 2011 census, the OBCs make 44% of the total UP population. Yadavs are 9%, Lodhi 7%, Jats 1.7%, Kushwaha 4%, Kurmi 3%, other OBCs are 20%, which includes sunars and few Muslim OBCs.

The Dalit (SC) population in UP is 21.1%, out of which Jatav Dalits are 9% and non-Jatav Dalits are 11%. The tribals (ST) are 0.8%. Muslims are 19.3% and Christians 0.18%. The population of Forward Castes is 16%, out of which Brahmins are 10%, Thakur 3%, Vaishya 2%, Tyagi and Bhumihar 1%.

The SP, BSP, RLD have joined hands to capture deciding OBC, Muslims and Dalit votes.

Though with the introduction of Priyanka, Rahul eyes to make Lok Sabha fight in UP a triangular one but Congress is only likely to dent SP-BSP-RLD vote bank. For, the traditional votes of the BJP are not likely to swing.

The grand-old party has announced to field Congress candidates in all 80 seats.

It's notable that in the past 'unofficially' Priyanka had been campaigning in Amethi and Rae Bareli for Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. But with her official entry, she will face the ground realities of Congress in UP.

While the BJP has the backing of dedicated party workers and Rashtirya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) cadre and SP, BSP, RLD have dedicated voters, the Congress has a feeble organizational structure in the state.

Given the fact that Indian voters generally vote emotionally, so largely Priyanka will have to bank upon emotional card to improve her party's tally in the state, which impacts the Delhi Darbar.

She will also have to counter allegations of corruption against her husband Robert Vadra.

It will be interesting to watch that what Priyanka can deliver in UP that other state in-charges couldn't do.