03-28-2007, 06:24 AM
Cong goal in UP: Oust Mulayam
[ 28 Mar, 2007 0101hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
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NEW DELHI: Congress appears to be working to a limited gameplan in UP. With the party quite clear-eyed about its modest prospects in the polls due to get under way next month, it is framing a strategy aimed at stoking the anti-Mulayam Singh propaganda already being fanned by BSP and BJP.
Positioning itself just behind the two big challengers, Congress is running a steady sniping campaign against
the Samajwadi Party government with its media cell reeling off figures to show UPâs lack of development. "UP is doing well only in negative news. This is hardly a matter of pride," said minister for science and technology Kapil Sibal, who is overseeing Congress's media campaign.
Congress is busying running down SP's performance by pointing out that per capita consumption of power in UP was less than half the national average and the state lagged in terms of road coverage. The party is arguing that the SP poll line, 'kayam rahe Mulayam (Mulayam should stay)' is a poor joke on the denizens of UP.
Congress is looking to see where it can add to what it feels is a building anti-Mulayam sentiment. The primary objective is to see what it can do to ensure that the SP loses power in UP in a decisive manner. The party feels that any prospects for its future revival will remain blocked as long as Mulayam remains part of the power matrix.
Added to what it sees as a political compulsion, Congress animosity towards Mulayam and his lieutenant Amar Singh is also driven by the SP leadership's hostility towards Sonia Gandhi. Congress is attempting to take some of the "secular" sheen off Mulayam by telling Muslim voters that it was SP's sustained opposition to Sonia that prevented the Congress chief from forming a government in 1999.
SP is bound to return the compliments, as it has in the aftermath of Rahul Gandhi's Babri Masjid remarks, but Congress seems to sense that Mulayam is fighting an uphill battle. If there is a possibility that he may be comprehensively ousted from power, Congress seems prepared to help this happen irrespective whether the big gainers are BSP or BJP.a
[ 28 Mar, 2007 0101hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
NEW DELHI: Congress appears to be working to a limited gameplan in UP. With the party quite clear-eyed about its modest prospects in the polls due to get under way next month, it is framing a strategy aimed at stoking the anti-Mulayam Singh propaganda already being fanned by BSP and BJP.
Positioning itself just behind the two big challengers, Congress is running a steady sniping campaign against
the Samajwadi Party government with its media cell reeling off figures to show UPâs lack of development. "UP is doing well only in negative news. This is hardly a matter of pride," said minister for science and technology Kapil Sibal, who is overseeing Congress's media campaign.
Congress is busying running down SP's performance by pointing out that per capita consumption of power in UP was less than half the national average and the state lagged in terms of road coverage. The party is arguing that the SP poll line, 'kayam rahe Mulayam (Mulayam should stay)' is a poor joke on the denizens of UP.
Congress is looking to see where it can add to what it feels is a building anti-Mulayam sentiment. The primary objective is to see what it can do to ensure that the SP loses power in UP in a decisive manner. The party feels that any prospects for its future revival will remain blocked as long as Mulayam remains part of the power matrix.
Added to what it sees as a political compulsion, Congress animosity towards Mulayam and his lieutenant Amar Singh is also driven by the SP leadership's hostility towards Sonia Gandhi. Congress is attempting to take some of the "secular" sheen off Mulayam by telling Muslim voters that it was SP's sustained opposition to Sonia that prevented the Congress chief from forming a government in 1999.
SP is bound to return the compliments, as it has in the aftermath of Rahul Gandhi's Babri Masjid remarks, but Congress seems to sense that Mulayam is fighting an uphill battle. If there is a possibility that he may be comprehensively ousted from power, Congress seems prepared to help this happen irrespective whether the big gainers are BSP or BJP.a