Ruling Samajwadi Party has young chief minister Akhilesh Yadav as the team leader and BSP has powerful former chief minister Mayawati to fight each other. However, in the absence of any proper leader of stature, Congress and BJP have been reduced to side players.

The BJP leaders in the state are demoralised with the continuous defeat of party in 15 by-polls for UP Assembly held after the party swept the Lok Sabha polls while taking 73 seats out of total 80 seats from state 2014.

During the last one year, there was total confusion in the BJP whether they should ask for votes in the name of performance of Modi government or Hindutva.

In the absence of any proper guideline from central leadership, ideologues like Mahant Adityanath and Sakhsi Maharaj keep talking about ghar wapsi, conversion, and call on the Hindu community to produce more children to counter Muslims.

The BJP, with its remarkable performance in 2014 when it swept the state with 73 out of total 80 Lok Sabha seats, is more under pressure to perform better in 2017 assembly polls.

But the BJP central leadership as well state leaders are unnerved by the way party lost in the by-elections one after another since last Lok Sabha polls.

Political analysts as well as state BJP leaders now realise that during 2014 people voted for Naredndra Modi to make him PM: the party and candidates were immaterial. It was all about ghar wapsi, conversion, construction of Ram temple and other communally divisive agenda.

The more shocking statement was from state BJP president Laxmikant Vajpai who said that party would set special gangs of lathi wielding persons to win 2017 elections.

It would be worth mentioning here that while participating in a programme in Baharaich Mr Vajpai said that his party would use sticks to counter Samajwadi Party. “Lathi ka jabab lathi se diya jayega”, he said.

There is lot of criticism of Laxmikant Vajpai within the party sue to his irresponsible statements and senior leaders wants to replace him with young and more dynamic leader who should be projected as chief minister for 2017 polls.

Those who argue for Hindutva line of campaign also take name of Varun Gandhi to be projected as the next chief minister.

But the BJP national president Amit Shah does not approve of Varun Gandhi and party managers are once again working to find suitable person.

Similarly, in the Congress to senior leaders on the state feel that unless the rejuvenated Rahul Gandhi spends more time in UP, it would be very difficult for party to faces 2017 assembly polls.

Although Mr Nirmal Khattri is UPCC chief who has good image, he lacks charisma to draw good crowd for his meetings,

Senior Party leaders have been consistently demanding that Priyanka Gandhi who has charisma of Nehru-Gandhi family and has established herself as the better communicator to be appointed as state party chief and should be projected as next chief minster. Only then does the party stand a good chance to bounce back and do well in assembly polls.

Although Priyanka Gandhi recently said in Rae Bareili that she was happy looking after her mother’s constituency and was not willing to take any other responsibility, but Congress leaders were stull insisting that she should take bigger role for UP.

Congress leaders are quite hopeful that the manner in which Rahul Gandhi conducted himself in Amethi recently and met all the Congress workers at the airport, he could change the fortune of the party in next elections for UP Assembly. (IPA Service)