Bjp, Cong Not Too Enthusiastic

Blame it on the delimitation exercise or the sagging morale, the prestigious Allahabad constituency is finding a few takers among the two major political parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. The former has failed to wrest the seat after the departure of superstar Amitabh Bachchan from the political scene in 1987, while the latter is facing a piquant situation as top leaders expressed unwillingness to contest the elections from this seat.

However, the situation in the BJP has created opportunities for other aspiring leaders. Some have the backing and blessing of senior party leaders, while others have entered the fray by virtue of their association with the party in one form or the other, says city president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha Shashank Shekhar Pandey. He added that despite the refusal by senior leaders to contest elections they wield considerable clout in the party and play a major role in deciding the party candidate for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

But what has surprised many is the inordinate delay in the announcement of candidate by the party, despite the fact that the seat was represented three times in succession by Murli Manohar Joshi in 1996, 1998 and 1999. However, this time Joshi has decided to contest from Varanasi after his loss to Samajwadi Party candidate Reoti Raman Singh in 2004. BJP district president Janardan Mishra said that since Allahabad seat is politically sensitive, the party is considering various options including fielding a heavy weight or projecting a new face which may cut ice with the young voters.

Among the new faces is a former president of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) Yogesh Shukla who is also among the major contenders in view of the fact that he hails from the trans-Yamuna area of Manda where he commands a considerable following. Besides this, he also has the blessing of both the two heavyweight leaders of the party in the district including Murli Manohar Joshi and Kesri Nath Tripathi, informed party sources.

The other names doing the round include former president of Allahabad University Students Union, Shyam Krishna Pandey, who unsuccessfully contested the assembly elections from Handia in 2002. Besides this, name of a former deputy mayor is also among the list of probables. The same is the state of affairs for the Congress party, which is struggling to win the seat after the exit of Amitabh Bachchan in 1986. Here also, aspiring leaders are focussing more on securing a party ticket from Phulpur instead of Allahabad.

Explaining the reason behind this trend, UPCC secretary Kishore Varshney said that no doubt, the feeling of insecurity related to Allahabad seat is lurking in the minds of party leaders, still there are other factors which are delaying the announcement. At present, the names of two leaders -- mayor Jitendra Nath Singh and veteran Congress leader JN Mishra are under the consideration of the party high command, he added.

Singh had unsuccessfully contested the assembly elections from City West assembly constituency, Mishra lost the Allahabad parliamentary seat a few years back. However, the former has a sizeable following in the City West, half of which has come under Allahabad constituency. The latter is a among the natural choice of the party high command, sources said. The candidates of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party have already galvanised their resources for the elections.