Congress to focus on 26 of 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP

NEW DELHI: Congress is learnt to have identified 26 of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh that it would focus on for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In what appears a target-oriented approach in a state where it has thin political muscle and limited time, Congress seems to have analysed its strengths in the sprawling state and zeroed in on select seats.

With the party training its attention on the state only this month with the appointment of two general secretaries in Priyanka Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia, the less than two months at hand to show results appears to have led the Congress to pick constituencies where it can contest to win.

While Amethi, Rae Bareli and Sultanpur are part of the Gandhi family borough, most of the remaining 23 seats are the ones that Congress won in a surprisingly stupendous performance in 2009. The party has named most of its former MPs as "in-charge" on the seats they had won earlier.

Besides these 23 seats, Congress will contest other constituencies too but is likely to have limited expectations from them.

Priyanka Gandhi and Scindia visited Lucknow last week and consulted with party workers from eastern and western regions.

Congress has been forced to go solo in the state after it was left out of a pact struck by fellow travelers in the opposition, SP and BSP. With SP-BSP forming a formidable combine and the ruling BJP as another pole, Congress has been left to fend for itself in the coming mega contest.

However, the party hopes that pitchforking Priyanka in the rough and tumble of its erstwhile stronghold can attract some social blocs that used to form its support base. If Congress manages to attract support in the state, it is uncertain which of the two dominant poles would be hit by its aggression. While some believe it would hurt the BJP since the party can woo sections of upper castes and farmers, many others speculate that Congress's entry can result in the division of anti-BJP votes that could be going to SP-BSP.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi refused to indulge in the debate when he recently said his party would contest with vigour and "play on the front foot" to revive itself.

In the seats identified, former MP Jitin Prasada has been given charge of two - his constituency Dhaurahara and neighbouring Sitapur. RPN Singh has been given charge of Kushinagar, PL Punia of Barabanki. Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Sinh has been tasked with Hardoi and Rajiv Shukla with Kanpur. Ajay Singh Lallu has been given Maharajganj and Mirzapur.