Days after setback, Congress regains in Sonia's bastion

Lucknow: Rae Bareli, the constituency of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is witnessing a strange case of exit and entry. Days after Congress MLC Dinesh Singh walked out of the Congress and joined BJP, former MLA and his bête noire Akhilesh Singh has announced that he is ready to return to the Congress.

The five-term former legislator told reporters, “If  Mrs Sonia Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi ask for my help, I am ready to campaign for the party in Amethi and Rae Bareli in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections”. Mr Akhilesh Singh was MLA from 1993 to 2012. He left the Congress in 2003 after he was arrested on murder charges. A mafia don with a Robinhood image, Akhilesh Singh has remained invincible in his Sadar constituency. Owing to failing health, he did not contest the 2017 Assembly elections but his daughter Aditi Singh won her father’s seat on a Congress ticket.

Talking about Dinesh Singh quitting the Congress, Mr Akhilesh Singh said, “He is a known turncoat. He betrayed Mulayam Singh and joined Bahujan Samaj Party but ditched Mayawati too. Thereafter, he joined Congress but could not remain loyal to the party and has now joined BJP. The people of Raebareli will never forgive this betrayal”. Despite his not being an MLA, Akhilesh Singh remains the most popular leader in the constituency and his coming closer to the Congress is bound to strengthen the party in its own bastion.

Mr Akhilesh Singh’s popularity reflected in his vote share. In 1993, when he contested the election for the first time, he secured 50 per cent of the total votes polled.

In 2002, his vote share swelled to 74 per cent. His vote share slipped to 50 per cent in 2007. The decline was attributed to departure of Congress voters.