INDIA bloc bets on UP and Uttarakhand polls to shape 2029 Lok Sabha battle

New Delhi: Assembly elections are due in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and the INDIA bloc has trained its full attention on these two states. The alliance is confident that their results will decide who rules Delhi in 2029. Victory in both states is therefore important to it in the political calculations for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.

How seriously the alliance takes Uttar Pradesh is evident from the fact that Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi held a late-night meeting in Delhi the day before the rally. Samajwadi Party chief and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has met Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi five times in the past week. Every meeting dwelt not on seat-sharing but on the voter list and booth management.

The biggest reason for this seriousness is said to be the result of the recent Legislative Council election. Since that election, the INDIA bloc has been in high spirits over Uttar Pradesh. The defeat on both seats, particularly in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Varanasi constituency, has energised the alliance's workers.

In Gorakhpur, regarded as the stronghold of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the BJP also had to struggle to win. The margin of victory on one seat was small, and this has become a cause for concern in the BJP camp. The BJP is trying to make Braj an issue.

On stage with Akhilesh Yadav were Professor Ram Gopal Yadav, Kairana MP Iqra Hasan, Dharmendra Yadav and Awadhesh Prasad. Iqra Hasan's presence is being linked to the Jat, Muslim and farmer equation in western Uttar Pradesh, which has been dubbed the "JMF" equation.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also spoke about Uttar Pradesh. He said they had stopped us in Bihar by committing dacoity, but now, together with Akhileshji, we will defeat them in Uttar Pradesh.

Amid all this, Uttarakhand came second in the bloc's attention. The Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee raised the Ankita Bhandari issue from the stage.