When it comes to elections, political parties resort to all kinds of tactics and leave no stone unturned to mark their presence. Playing to the same tunes, Samajwadi Party and Congress came up with a rhythmic slogan, which had a stark similarity with the Salman Khan starrer song ‘Baby ko bass pasand hai.’
The slogan ‘UP ko ye saath pasand hai’ was announced a few days back by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. However, travelling through the state and speaking to people, the sense that one gets is it that ‘UP ko sirf Akhilesh pasand hai’.
Akhilesh-Rahul are travelling across the state to campaign for the SP-Congress alliance. Despite receiving a good response, it seems that the people are more with Akhilesh and less with Rahul.
On Friday, the duo campaigned in Agra. Massive crowd had gathered for the roadshow where the two leaders presented themselves as a strong alliance. Youngsters present at the venue were full of energy, but the one thing that stood out was the fact that while everyone was praising Akhilesh, hardly anyone ‘cared’ that Rahul too was present.
“Akhilesh is UP’s leader. He cares about the state and its development. Rahul on the other hand rarely visits his own constituency. CM ‘sahib’ should have avoided joining hands with the Congress,” said Raghvendra Singh, a teacher.
Ishani Sharma, a B.Com student, was also of the same opinion. She said, “Akhilesh could have won the elections alone. Why join hands with a leader like Rahul? He can’t woo voters, he gets trolled all the time.”
The backing of Congress for “secular” SP has definitely boosted its standing among minorities. But when compared in terms of popularity, Rahul is far behind than the young UP CM.
“Even if we vote for Congress, it will be because of Akhilesh and not Rahul. We are happy with Akhilesh, hence we can support Congress too because of the alliance. But we have no confidence in Rahul or the Congress party for that matter,” said Rehan Jaffrey, an MBA student.
“It is being said that the cycle (SP symbol) was alone, but now with the help of the hand (Congress symbol), its speed has increased. Though I feel that it is the Congress who stands to gain from this alliance rather than Akhilesh. The Congress has been trying hard to revive itself and they have chosen the best option to be with the UP CM,” said Salman Siddiqui, a BCA graduate.
Despite his herculean efforts to pull down his political opponents, it seems that Rahul does not have the fire in the belly. The harder he tries, the more his amateurishness come to the fore. His election speeches are full of sound and fury and hardly any substance.
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