New Delhi: Former Delhi chief minister and Congress stalwart Sheila Dikshit has reportedly turned down the offer to become the chief ministerial candidate of the grand old party in the high voltage 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
According to a NDTV report, poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who has been roped by the Congress to boost its fortunes in the Hindi heartland ahead of next year’s Assembly elections, wanted a Brahmin face to be projected as the face of the party.
The speculations about Dikshit being appointed as the CM candidate emerged after the Congress stalwart met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi on July 16.
The chorus for bringing Priyanka Gandhi into active politics to revive Congress’ fortunes in Uttar Pradesh has also been increasing these days.
Recently reports had claimed that around 600 block presidents of the grand old party had urged master strategist Prashant Kishor to bring Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s daughter into the political arena.
Congress, which once used to win almost all the seats in the cow belt state, has been performing very poorly in the last two decades.
Notably, the BJP had won on 71 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014. Congress won two, Samajwadi Party five and Mayawati’s Bhaujan Samaj Party wasn’t able to open its account.
Key players in the state – Bharatiya Janata Party led by PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, Samajwadi Party led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party led by Mayawati – are personality driven and have their strong vote bases. Meanwhile, Congress, which has been out of power in the state for nearly three decades, suffers from a leadership crisis.
(Agencies)
