Op Rae Bareli: Old aide takes on Sonia

RAE BARELI/LUCKNOW: For the last decade, Dinesh Pratap Singh — second of this Thakur family of five brothers — has guarded UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s bastion Rae Bareli, helping her in two successive Lok Sabha triumphs of 2009 and 2014.On Wednesday, as BJP pitted Dinesh against Sonia, his other brothers jumped to pledge support to him.
“We are like the Pandavas, enough to win this Kuruksehtra. Ab yeh ladai hai bade kaam wala versus bade naam wala. I have three issues, Rae Bareli ka swabhimaan, Rae Bareli ka naujwaan and Rae Bareli ka kisan. All of these were ignored by Sonia Gandhi,” Dinesh told reporters, almost reiterating Prime Minister Narendra Modi's punchline Naamdar vs Kaamdar. BJP UP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey described the move as ‘Operation Rae Bareli’.

While Dinesh was inducted into BJP fold last year at a rally attended by saffron party chief Amit Shah, his other brothers except Congress MLA from Harchandpur Rakesh Singh too joined the bandwagon.





The family has had diversified interests in flour mills, cement (Unicem) and construction among other businesses.

Dinesh's induction comes at a time when Congress has formally given Sonia’s daughter Priyanka a bigger role to expand Congress footprint in UP beyond Rae Bareli and Amethi, with an expectation to get closer to 2009 Lok Sabha tally of 21 seats and a bid to come to power in UP in 2022.

BJP's move also comes when Congress president Rahul Gandhi's decision to fight from twin Lok Sabha seats, the other being Wayanad in Kerala. This has given some hope to Smriti Irani, who unsuccessfuly contested against him in 2009.

Also, a Congress loyalist for generations, Haji Mohammad Haroon Rashid, whose father was among proposers when Rajiv Gandhi filed nominations from Amethi, quit the party last Monday and decided to contest against Rahul Gandhi.

On the same day as Dinesh Singh’s candidature was being announced, BJP also made an announcement of inducting Amethi's former Congress MLA Dr Muslim.

“Both Shias and Sunnis are making a considered choice to join BJP. I am a Sunni but I believe triple talaq move by the Modi government is a genuine effort to help women. I will stand by this government and help it to make deep inroads into Gandhi bastions,” said Dr Muslim.