Congress MLA from Harchandpur in Rae Bareli, Rakesh Singh, has accused his party of being anti-Hindu and pro-Muslim. Trying to weigh in the reasons for Congress losing its grip in the Sonia Gandhi bastion Rae Bareli, after BJP swept the Block panchayat chief polls in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress MLA from Harchandpur said that his party believes in only appeasement politics.
‘Congress’ pseudo-secularism is something I find unacceptable’, Congress MLA from Harchandpur
Rakesh Singh said that despite being a member of the Congress party, he does not approve of the policies and ideologies of his party. Also, expressing his disapproval for the party in charge Kishori Lal Sharma, said to be a close aide of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Singh criticised his own party for indulging in politics of caste and religion. Rakesh Singh opined that Congress is fundamentally an anti-Hindutva and pro-Muslim party and despite being its member, he said that Congress’ pseudo-secularism is something he finds unacceptable.
Rakesh Singh heaps praises on Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath
Singh also heaped praises on Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath and said that there is no CM who is as honest and venerable. He said that though he belongs to the rival party, Yogi Adityanath has never denied any sought of help. He said that on the contrary, his own party has often gotten “angry with him for doing good work”, rued Rakesh Singh.
“Whenever I do puja or recite the Akhand Ramayana, my party stops me from doing it. Congress is 100 per cent anti-Hindutva. They somehow have always been disapproving of any good work done for the constituency”, Singh said, adding that he is not intending to leave the party but wants to warn them that if they continue to offend 85 per cent of the population and please only 15 per cent, the time is not far when many loyal members of the party would be compelled to leave.
Rakesh Singh said that if his party does not give him a party ticket for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, he would independently fight and win from his constituency. When asked whether he had plans to join the BJP, Rakesh Singh said that it is too pre-mature.
Speaking about the leadership and organisational deficiencies of the Congress party, Rakesh Singh said that in 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh, no one even knows the name of the district presidents of the party.
BJP sweeps UP Block panchayat polls, Congress’ dismal performance continues
It is pertinent to note here, that BJP registered an unparalleled win in the polls to the posts of block and district panchayat chiefs, bagging 635 of 825 seats. Congress on the other hand had to settle for only 2 seats.
Like most other districts, in Rae Bareli also, BJP candidates won 11 seats. The Samajwadi Party won two seats and independents captured five. Sadly, the Congress party did not even secure a single seat in Rae Bareli, known to be a stronghold of Sonia Gandhi.
Interestingly, Vaishali Singh, mother of the rebel Congress MLA of Rae Bareli, Aditi Singh won the Amwan seat and Piyush Pratap Singh, son of ex-Congress loyalist Dinesh Pratap Singh bagged the Harchandpur seat in Rae Bareli.
After the results of the Uttar Pradesh Block panchayat polls, Rakesh Singh said that Congress must have definitely got a reality check. Until now, they were living under the misconception that Rae Bareli is their bastion and they are unshakable from the district. But least do they know that they cannot win from Rae Bareli without the support of the Panchavati family.
Panchvati happens to be the name of the house of Dinesh Pratap Singh and his five siblings, and a force to reckon with in Rae Bareli. The family, popularly known as ‘Panchvati Parivar,’ is now a part of the saffron party. The main accusation of Singhs against Congress high command was its indifference to local leaders. The Singhs who were Congress loyalists felt demeaned and strangulated by the party high command, forcing their exit from the Congress in July 2019, despite years of service and loyalty.
Interestingly, Dinesh Pratap Singh, after joining BJP, contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections against Sonia Gandhi. While Dinesh Pratap Singh had picked up 3,67,740 votes, Sonia Gandhi had managed to win the seat with 5,34,918 votes.
