Sanjay Singh next Cong boss in UP?

The Congress’ idea of projecting Singh has to do with countering the Rajput leaders in rival parties. Singh will be projected as the ‘real Rajput’ as opposed to the BJP’s Rajnath Singh, the ‘common Thakur’ and the SP’s Amar Singh, an ‘aspirant Thakur.’

The party hopes Singh will not only consolidate the Rajput vote in the state—he already wields considerable clout in the Amethi-Rae Bareli belt—but also help attract the Muslim community.

The Congress, insiders say, now sees an opportunity to be tough with the SP and woo the BSP. With Singh as its unit chief, the party thinks it will get the maximum out of a tie-up with the BSP. If Mayawati agrees to a pre-poll alliance with the Congress, either tacit or open, the Congress can get back its traditional votebank—upper castes, Muslims and Dalits. Mayawati has declared her party will take a decision on political alliances at the national executive meeting on January 16.

For Singh, a former Rajiv Gandhi loyalist, it will be a real homecoming. He shot into limelight with his energetic election campaign for the late Congress leader but later dumped him and hitched on to the VP Singh bandwagon. He joined the BJP in 1997. In 1998, he defeated Sonia Gandhi’s nominee Satish Sharma but was trounced in the election a year later by Sonia herself. He returned to the party in August 2003.