Uttar Pradesh (UP) is over the moon for more reasons than one. A citizen of the state Khushbu Mirza is part of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayan mission that landed softly on the moon last Wednesday.
Mirza comes from a humble family in Amroha, in western UP. She grew up in Mohalla Chagauri under conservative circumstances, having lost her father at the age of seven years. However her mother made sure that her three children received the best possible education.
She studied electronic engineering at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and is the winner of a gold medal. At ISRO she is part of the team that built the equipment and software to receive data from the satellite that has landed on the moon.
Today Mirza is a role model for many little girls in Amroha, all of whom want to grow up and be a scientist like her.
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee
Meanwhile the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) is revamping its sleepy head office in Lucknow. The UPCC has a new president.
Ajay Rai, 54 is a five time legislator from Varanasi who has been appointed to the prestigious post by Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge himself. Party officials told The Citizen that Rai has the approval of both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi as well.
Yet news from the Lucknow office often confuses Congress supporters by pitching Rahul Gandhi supporters against those who see Priyanka Gandhi as their leader. Some have gone to the press to say that Rahul Gandhi should be declared the face of the Congress within INDIA, the grand alliance of opposition parties.
Others want Priyanka Gandhi to be the prime ministerial face in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Congress leader Acharya Pramod is unhappy that it is not yet finalised if Priyanka Gandhi will contest the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 from Varanasi.
“It would be better to declare Priyanka Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial candidate,’ he told the media. He feels that Priyanka Gandhi is a popular face and a strong candidate against the ruling party.
Meanwhile, former Varanasi Member of Parliament, and member of the party’s central election committee, Rajesh Mishra is unhappy with the appointment of Rai as UPCC head. That Rai belongs to the upper caste of Bhumihar is a problem with Mishra.
The veteran leader feels that the Congress should focus on its core voters like Dalits, Brahmins and Muslims who had kept the Congress in power for 70 years in the past.
The vote percentage of Brahmins, Dalits and Muslims is over 15 percent of the total population while Bhumihars comprise less than one percent. Other Congressmen said that Rai has been chosen as head of the UPCC not because of his caste but because of his excellent organisational skills.
Last Friday Rai had publicly announced that Rahul Gandhi would contest the Amethi Lok Sabha seat in the next Lok Sabha elections.
It may be recalled that Rahul Gandhi was defeated by the ruling party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Amethi by a margin of about 55,000 votes.
The Amethi Lok Sabha constituency was a Gandhi family stronghold for a long time, from where Rahul Gandhi has been contesting since 2004. Earlier, Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi were also MPs from this seat.
Now reports from the ground reveal that many voters favour Rahul Gandhi today and would like him to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Amethi.
Who Is Ajai Rai?
Ajai Rai, the new UPCC president, replaced Brijlal Khabri, a Dalit leader who was chosen nearly a year ago to lead the party in UP by Priyanka. The exit of Khabri as head of the party in the state also signals the retreat of Priyanka Gandhi from the very complex politics of UP.
Till recently she was party general secretary in-charge of UP but her campaigning in the 2022 state elections won a mere two seats for the Congress out of 80 seats. Since that defeat, Priyanka has not been seen in UP.
Rai is an ‘upper caste’ leader with considerable political clout, especially in eastern UP. He contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2019 against the ruling party. Although Rai began his political career with the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vidyarthi Parishad, the graduate of Varanasi’s Kashi Vidyapeeth is seen as a committed Congressman.
In the past Rai was a minister of state in the Mayawati-led BSP-BJP alliance government. He fell out with the ruling party after senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi was chosen as its Lok Sabha candidate from Varanasi in 2009 instead of him.
Rai contested the 2009 Lok Sabha election as a candidate of the Samajwadi Party and joined the Congress in 2012. He defeated the ruling party nominee in the same year and which got the Congress to field him against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2014, and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections which he lost both times.
As the new president of the UPCC, Rai is expected to improve the fortunes of the Congress in UP in the future. The question is, how?
Rajnikanth In Ayodhya
Guess who came a calling the other day? Tamil actor Rajnikanth created a stir in Lucknow when the towering superstar visited the city last week.
The immensely popular actor came to promote his latest film Jailer in Uttar Pradesh (UP). While in the city, he had enjoyed a special screening of Jailer in the company of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Last Sunday the matinee idol also travelled 150 km east of Lucknow to offer prayers at the Hanuman Garhi temple in Ayodhya. The 72 year-old Rajnikant told the media that he had always wanted to visit the ancient city of Ayodhya.
Rajnikanth used the occasion to visit the Samajwadi Party (SP) head, and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav as well. The two have been friends ever since they met each other nearly a decade ago.
Yadav tweeted that when hearts meet people embrace. While studying engineering in Mysore, Yadav had watched countless Rajnikanth films.
“The happiness I used to feel seeing Rajinikanth ji on the screen is still intact. We met in person nine years back and have been friends ever since,” added Yadav.
The 72 year-old Rajnikanth also met Chief Minister Adityanath while in Lucknow, and photographs of him bowing down to touch the feet of the 51-year-old monk-politician took the social media by storm.