In the wake of the Lok Sabha elections, which threw up startling results, the leading contenders, the ruling BJP as well as the Opposition INDIA alliance, have started conducting a post-mortem of their performances – their hits and misses. They would then return to the drawing boards to firm up action plans for the challenges ahead. The Urdu dailies have turned their focus on this massive political exercise, especially tracking its progress in key states. URDU TIMES Referring to the Congress leadership’s decision to field Priyanka Gandhi from Kerala’s Wayanad Lok Sabha seat vacated by her brother and senior party leader Rahul Gandhi, the Mumbai-based Urdu Times, in its editorial on June 19, writes that the move could be termed a “masterstroke” of the grand old party. “Priyanka could have entered Parliament through the Rajya Sabha too, but she chose the Lok Sabha route for her electoral debut,” the editorial says. Rahul had won from both his seats, Wayanad and Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli, by about 3.64 lakh votes and 3.90 lakh votes respectively. “Priyanka’s victory from Wayanad seems to be a foregone conclusion,” the edit claims, adding that both Rahul and Priyanka would be seen together in Parliament, with Rahul expected to lead from the front as the Leader of the Opposition. The editorial says Priyanka has a resemblance with her grandmother, the former Prime Minister late Indira Gandhi. “Priyanka’s oratorical skills are striking. Even the Congress critics calling Rahul names like ‘politically immature' have never dismissed Priyanka. Some observers even believe that she is the most popular leader in the Congress ranks. She has a massive appeal among women voters,” it states. She has been preparing for her political journey for several years, which will now take her from UP to Kerala, the edit notes, adding that “By contesting from Wayanad, Priyanka would reclaim the seat for the Gandhi family.” Referring to the BJP’s criticism of “dynastic politics” against the Gandhi family and its attack on Rahul for “betraying” the electors of the Wayanad constituency, the daily points to the Congress’s counter highlighting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s move to resign from Gujarat’s Vadodara seat after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls to retain his Varanasi constituency in UP. “The Opposition benches in the Lok Sabha would now feature some prominent faces ranging from Rahul and Akhilesh Yadav to Mahua Moitra and Supriya Sule. And Priyanka is expected to join them soon, showing her resolve by finally deciding to throw her hat in the poll ring,” it adds. ROZNAMA RASHTRIYA SAHARA Flagging the churn in Maharashtra politics following the parliamentary elections, the multi-edition Roznama Rashtriya Sahara, in its leader on June 19, points out that the poll outcome has dealt a blow to the unity of the ruling Mahayuti coalition comprising the BJP, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar-led NCP. On the other hand, it has boosted and even galvanised the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) involving the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP). The elections saw the Mahayuti suffering a debacle as it could win only 17 of the state’s 48 Lok Sabha seats as compared to the MVA’s 30 seats. “An enthused MVA has now resolved to fight together the Maharashtra Assembly polls, slated for October this year. A series of meetings are taking place in both the ruling and the Opposition coalitions to review their poll performances and to work out their roadmaps for the upcoming polls,” the daily says. “There seems to be disquiet in the Mahayuti camp. Owning responsibility for the poll reverses, the BJP’s Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis offered to resign intending to focus solely on the organisational affairs, but the party leadership managed to persuade him to continue in his crucial ministerial role.” The daily says while the Mahayuti allies might not be openly indulging in a blame game in order to avoid rocking their government now, they are internally fixing each other’s accountability while assessing the reasons for their defeat. “These elections have proved one thing: while the breakaway factions of the parent parties NCP and Sena, led by Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray respectively, might have crossed over to the BJP-led NDA, causing temporary setbacks for them, their supporters and voters have continued to stand by them,” it states, adding that the two camps had adopted different strategies. “While the Mahayuti focused on splitting parties and wooing MLAs and MPs, the MVA went all out to connect with the people, who rallied behind them.” The editorial notes that the political situation in Maharashtra has undergone a sea-change as compared to the scene prevailing in the 2019 Assembly polls. “The scenario unfolding after the Lok Sabha elections does not appear promising for the Mahayuti constituents. Everyone knows that no party would be able to clinch a majority in the state on its own steam. Evidently, the MVA seems to be united, cohesive and robust at present, while the Mahayuti appears to be on a weak wicket,” it says. The Lok Sabha polls witnessed a keen battle between them, which could only get fiercer in the Assembly polls. The stakes are so high that the RSS has swung into action to give the BJP a helping hand. “The Assembly polls would not just be about forming a government, but would also determine the survival of some major players, which would make it more interesting,” the edit adds.
