India’s ruling Congress party Vice President Rahul Gandhi greets voters outside a polling station in Amethi, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Wednesday, May 7, 2014. Gandhi, heir to the country’s Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, is leading the struggling party’s campaign in the general election. (AP Photo)
The fight is now for the relevance of the Gandhi family as unquestioned leaders of the Congress, asserts Modi
AMETHI, May 7 (AFP): Beleaguered Rahul Gandhi, battling to save India’s ruling Congress party in national elections, sought to win over sceptical voters in his constituency on Wednesday as voting in the world’s biggest democracy entered its final stages.
AMETHI, May 7 (AFP): Beleaguered Rahul Gandhi, battling to save India’s ruling Congress party in national elections, sought to win over sceptical voters in his constituency on Wednesday as voting in the world’s biggest democracy entered its final stages.
Gandh itravelled to his northern parliamentary seat to witness voting first-hand. He toured polling booths in Amethi -- his family’s bastion for more than 30 years-- and told reporters that local people were “expressing their love for me”. “Change is in the air for all to see. I too voted for change,” voter Shyam Charan Gupta told AFP from Amethi, a poor rural area in the crucial battleground state of Uttar Pradesh. The challenge facing Gandhi was underscored this week when opposition frontrunner Narendra Modi held a rally in Amethi and declared that nothing could save the dynasty.
Modi, who has campaigned on reviving the flagging economy, urged voters to “break ties with the family” that has produced three prime ministers. Gandhi’s presence in Amethi on Wednesday was interpreted in the local media as a sign of concern due to competition from the BJP candidate, former actress Smriti Irani, and a popular anti-corruption campaigner, Kumar Vishwas. In March, Gandhi’s campaign manager in Amethi told AFP that the former management consultant -- who spends on average only one night a month in his constituency -- had no plans for special campaigning there. The constituency, mostly wheat-growing farmland dotted with hamlets, abounds with complaints about the poor roads and intermittent electricity, but Gandhi blames these problems on the local state government.
A poor result here would deal a blow he would find it difficult to recover from.
Targeting the family
Opinion polls show voters have turned against Congress over massive graft scandals, spiralling inflation and a sharp economic slowdown during their two terms running a left-leaning coalition government since 2004. With Modi as the prime ministerial candidate, the BJP is expected to win the most seats in the 543-member parliament, but will likely fall short of an outright majority.
Analysts say Modi, the son of a tea-stall owner, appeared in Amethi because he sensed waning support for Gandhi. “Modi wanted to hit the last nail in the coffin. His visit (to Amethi) was aimed directly at Rahul, a direct blow,” Delhi-based veteran political analyst and commentator Amulya Ganguli told AFP.
Sonia, Rahul and his sister Priyanka have intensified their criticism of Modi, calling him a religious fanatic who would spread divisions between the majority Hindu and minority Muslim communities if he won power. The final round of voting, in 41 constituencies, will take place on Monday.
