The first phase of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be a gruelling test for eight Congress MPs and the performance of the Congress in this phase will be reflective of the performance of these MPs.
The first phase will decide the future of Union steel minister Beni Prasad Varma, since maximum tickets in this phase have been given on his recommendations. Mr Varma, MP from Gonda, has his hometown in Barabanki from where his own son Rakesh Varma is a candidate.
Being unfamiliar with the Congress culture, Mr Varma has been facing dissidence in the party ranks and has been heckled by party workers during a Rahul Gandhi meeting in Utraula last month and then again on Wednesday when he was prevented form addressing the rally in Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s presence.
If Mr Varma fails to deliver seats in this phase, he may face troubled weather in the party.
Barabanki is also the home turf of another Congress MP P.L. Punia and his differences with Mr Beni Prasad Varma are now out in the open. Mr Punia faces the challenge of ensuring Congress victory in Barabanki despite the party workers’ anger against Mr Varma.
The prestige of Union minister Jitin Prasad and Congress MP Zafar Ali Naqvi is at stake in Sitapur since both the leaders belong to the adjoining Dhaurhara and Lakhimpur constituencies and are said to wield influence in the region. The Congress fared very poorly in a by-election in Lakhimpur in 2010 and MPs’ skills will be on test in this election again.
In Bahraich, Congress MP Kamal Kishore Commando is working twice as hard as he did for his own election. His wife Poonam Kishore is a candidate from here and her victory is important for his own political future.
In Gonda, again, it is Mr Beni Prasad Varma who will bear the burden if the Congress fails to deliver since almost all tickets here have been given on his recommendation.
Faizabad and Shravasti were never known to be Congress strongholds until Nirmal Khatri won Faizabad and Vinay Pandey won Shravasti in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Both the MPs now face the uphill task of continuing to expand the party’s base and ensure some seats from their parliamentary constituencies. Jagdamb-ika Pal, Congress MP from Dumariaganj, is waging a war of prestige in Basti from where his son Abhishek Pal is making a political debut in this assembly election.
Mr Pal, who is known to be a claimant for a ministerial post in Delhi, will have to re-establish his influence and ensure his son’s victory if he expects a ministerial berth at the centre.