New Delhi:
It has all the elements of the perfect story - royalty, dynasty, crime and corruption. Only, this is no fictional drama. This is phase 3 of the Uttar Pradesh elections and voting took place on Wednesday across 10 districts in 56 assembly segments, three among which are part of Rahul Gandhi's Amethi Lok Sabha constituency. Will the Rahul mantra plus Priyanka magic work?
The Gandhi family has pulled out all stops to ensure that Mr Gandhi's best effort yet to resurrect the Congress in the crucial state yields great results. His younger sister Priyanka has camped in this area for days, tirelessly conducting a high-voltage campaign. In a rare overt political appearance, her husband Robert Vadra has done his bit. Mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi represents neighbouring Rae Bareli and has been faithful to the UP script her son has written, as has the entire Congress leadership. Now, that script is being tested at the hustings, not least in this phase.
Three Assembly constituencies in the Amethi parliamentary seat go to the polls today - Jagdishpur, Gauriganj and Amethi. Before Rahul Gandhi, the Amethi Lok Sabha seat has been represented by his uncle Sanjay Gandhi, father Rajiv Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi. Yet of the ten Assembly seats in Amethi, the Congress does not hold all - it had won seven in 2007.
Then there is Phulpur that votes today too. Phulpur near Allahabad, was Rahul Gandhi's great grandfather and India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's first Lok Sabha seat. In November last year, Rahul had chosen this dusty little town to kickstart the Congress' campaign in this high-stakes UP election. (Read: Polling turnout in the third phase of UP elections)
The prestige battle for the Nehru-Gandhi family apart, Phase 3 is also a direct fight between the ruling BSP and a Samajwadi Party that is trying wear a tag of new-and-improved. In 2007, the BSP had won 31 of these 56 seats, the SP, battling anti-incumbency then had won 11, the BJP won six and the Congress had won three. But in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, it was the SP that dominated the region, winning 22 seats, followed closely by the BSP with 21, the Congress, already seeing the Rahul effect then won nine and the BJP and allies had got four.
Three Cabinet-ranked ministers of the BSP will be tested today along with a host of high-profile candidates from other parties. There are at least 121 candidates with criminal cases against them and 48 super-rich candidates in the fray.
The Gandhi family has pulled out all stops to ensure that Mr Gandhi's best effort yet to resurrect the Congress in the crucial state yields great results. His younger sister Priyanka has camped in this area for days, tirelessly conducting a high-voltage campaign. In a rare overt political appearance, her husband Robert Vadra has done his bit. Mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi represents neighbouring Rae Bareli and has been faithful to the UP script her son has written, as has the entire Congress leadership. Now, that script is being tested at the hustings, not least in this phase.
Three Assembly constituencies in the Amethi parliamentary seat go to the polls today - Jagdishpur, Gauriganj and Amethi. Before Rahul Gandhi, the Amethi Lok Sabha seat has been represented by his uncle Sanjay Gandhi, father Rajiv Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi. Yet of the ten Assembly seats in Amethi, the Congress does not hold all - it had won seven in 2007.
Then there is Phulpur that votes today too. Phulpur near Allahabad, was Rahul Gandhi's great grandfather and India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's first Lok Sabha seat. In November last year, Rahul had chosen this dusty little town to kickstart the Congress' campaign in this high-stakes UP election. (Read: Polling turnout in the third phase of UP elections)
The prestige battle for the Nehru-Gandhi family apart, Phase 3 is also a direct fight between the ruling BSP and a Samajwadi Party that is trying wear a tag of new-and-improved. In 2007, the BSP had won 31 of these 56 seats, the SP, battling anti-incumbency then had won 11, the BJP won six and the Congress had won three. But in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, it was the SP that dominated the region, winning 22 seats, followed closely by the BSP with 21, the Congress, already seeing the Rahul effect then won nine and the BJP and allies had got four.
Three Cabinet-ranked ministers of the BSP will be tested today along with a host of high-profile candidates from other parties. There are at least 121 candidates with criminal cases against them and 48 super-rich candidates in the fray.
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