Implementing the script written by Congress strategist Prashant Kishor who was behind big win of Mr Narendra Modi led BJP in 2014 Lok Sabha elections and later Nitish-Lalu combine in state assembly elections in Bihar, Rahul Gandhi declared best possible Brahmin face Sheila Dikshit, daughter in law of UP as CM face and non-controversial above caste and communal consideration Raj Babbar as UPCC President.

In order to maintain caste balance, Congress high command gave the responsibility of campaign to prominent Thakur leader Dr Sanjay Singh.

Significantly, Congress has played communal card to make Imran Masood, who had become controversial when he made statement against Modi in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, to win over Muslim community and made him vice-president with three others who include Rajesh Mishra ,yet another Brahmin leader from eastern UP and former MP from Varanasi and Raja Rampal, a back ward face and Choudhry who is a Dalit.

While BJP, Samajwadi Party and BSP are giving prominence to backwards and dalits, Congress is banking heavily on Brahmins who were neglected in other parties. Congress wants to bring the traditional vote bank of Brahmin, Muslim and Harijans to party which helped the Congress to remain in power since Independence to 1989 when party was voted out of power in Uttar Pradesh.

Congress is capitalizing on the unrest in Brahmins who had shifted to BJP during Ayodhya movement for Ram temple when saffron party replaced Luxmi Kant Tripathi by a tainted OBC leader Keshav Prasad Maurya as BJP president.

Similarly in BSP also, Mayawati is not giving prominence to Brahmin as it was case in past when she gave maximum number of tickets to this powerful community in 2007 assembly elections in the name of social engineering which paid rich dividends and the BSP came to power on its own.

This time Mayawati has not given good number of tickets to Brahmins as she is playing aggressive Muslim card to forge Muslim-Dalit unity to capture power in 2017 assembly polls.

Samajwadi Party always gives prominence to Yadav and other backward communities besides Muslims and a very few tickets to Brahmins.

Congress strategist PK feels that if Congress gets good number of Brahmins, then Muslims would also return to party.

Since Mayawati gets support from her own Jatav Dalit caste, Congress is working on pasi and other castes in Harijans ignored by BSP supremo. That is why pasi leader has been made vice-president in Raj Babbar team.

Although Raj Babbar and Sheila Dikshit claimed that they would work for bringing party to power after 27 years in UP but it is not an easy task.

The biggest challenge before Raj Babbar – Sheila team is how to galvanize the party workers who were demoralized and feeling neglected during all these years when the Congress was not in power.

Prominent political analyst Dr Ramesh Dixit said if the new Congress team succeeded in giving honour to party workers, then only they would be able to reach out to masses and spread the good deeds of UPA government and Congress Party to them.

Dr Dixit said that the Congress suffered in the past as there was total disconnect with the party workers from senior leaders and party high command.

The manner in which the main opposition parties have reacted to the installation of team of Raj Babbar and Sheila Dikshit shows that they are feeling threatened from Congress which had been out of power for more than two decades.

BSP supremo Mayawati, Samajwadi Party in charge for election Shivpal Yadav and BJP state President Keshav Prasad Maurya not only criticized Raj Babbar and Sheila but also claimed that there was no threat to their parties.

The biggest challenge before Raj Babbar and Ms Sheila Dixit is to maintain the euphoria of July 17 when several thousand party workers greeted the new team with high expectations and to boost the morale of party leaders.

Besides the new team as AICC general secretary and in charge of UP affairs ,Ghulam Nabi Azad said that party high command would be able to convince Priyanka Gandhi to play important role in Congress campaign all over the state during 2017 assembly polls. (IPA Service)