Click to play videoNew Delhi: It is going to be a show of strength in Rae Bareli on Tuesday as Sonia and Rahul Gandhi along with Railway Minister Lalu Prasad will inaugurate the controversial rail coach factory there. The factory was earlier stalled after UP Chief Minister Mayawati refused to give a part of land for construction.
In the backdrop of Mayawati scare, the rail coach factory has become a symbol of one upmanship match between the two most powerful women in Indian politics - Sonia and Mayawati.
By denying permission for the factory site, Mayawati believed that hitting at Sonia directly would lead to crumbling of the entire structure. But then in a rare defiant mood, Sonia visited the factory site. She met her supporters despite prohibitory orders and was even willing to go to jail.
“If required I’ll even go to the jail,” said Sonia Gandhi.
Though, permission was soon granted but war of words continued.
When the Congress - especially Rahul Gandhi - condemned the killing of PWD engineer in Auriya by a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA allegedly to collect funds for Behenji's (Mayawati) birthday, Mayawati immediately retaliated.
Hitting at the Congress, Mayawati pointed a finger at the sycophancy culture at the Congress. She said that Sonia’s birthday should be celebrated as Ghulami Divas.
“The opposition party are trying to play petty politics by using my birthday as a cause for the death of the engineer,” she said on her birthday presser.
Sonia and Rahul are aware that with Lok Sabha elections not too far away, gaining some ground in the politically crucial state of UP is essential.
Unfortunately the Congress is left badly bruised with both the Samajwati Party (SP) and BSP slowly eating away into its traditional votebank. But the Congress hopes that with the SP now by its side, it will be easier to take on Mayawati.
And it is hoping that the hiccups over the seat sharing talks between the SP and the Congress will soon be overcome. As Sonia and Rahul sell the rail coach factory as proof of their concern for UP's development, they are also hoping that the Congress will soon be on track in UP politics.
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