Rahul sets stage for Cong-BSP showdown in UP

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi,  who was already seen as a potential threat to Mayawati's "dalit vote bank" is all set to have a showdown with the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party on April 14 , the birth anniversary of the party's key Dalit icon Babasaheb Ambedkar in Ambedkarnagar.

The two political rivals were holding their respective events directly aimed at wooing dalits on Ambedkar's birth anniversary on Wednesday. Even as the Congress ostensibly described its show as "Chetna rally" to mark the party's 125th  anniversary , the party's  real objective of winning back its lost dalit vote bank is no secret.

On one hand, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi will kickstart his ambitious campaign from Ambedkarnagar,  the town named after the architect of the Indian Constitution , UP  chief minister Mayawati has planned nation-wide demonstrations to hit put at the Congress party.

Rahul's oft repeated bid to reach out to dalits by sharing meals with dalit families or by spending nights under the same roof with them, had surely paid dividends which was demonstrated in the party's success on as many as 22 Lok Sabha seats at the last genenal elections in 2009. Sure enough, if Rahul was hoping to win back the dalits, whose support had kept the Congress in power in UP for four decades before they were voted out 21 years ago ,

Mayawati's objective is to ensure that the Gandhi scion did not succeed in denting what she considers her exclusive domain. Simultaneously, the BSP also proposes to use the occasion to reiterate its condemnation of the Women's Reservation Bill , that Mayawati had already sought to paint it as "anti-dalit."

The two parties would have a close shave at Ambedkarnagar, where both were staging their respective shows at a stone's throw away from each other. However, Mayawati has chosen to keep herself away from that town, where her close lieutenant and parliamentary affairs minister Lalji Verma would address a rally and lead the demonstration there. The chief minister would simply address the media after paying floral tributes to Ambedkar  at the Rs. 1200 crore memorial dedicated  to him in Lucknow.

Rahul Gandhi was to give a call for rejuvenation of the Congress party by flagging off 'yatras' in 10 different directions from the town named after Ambedkar.  And conversely, Mayawati proposes to hit out at the Congress party for what she terms as "melodrama" to win over dalits.

Speculation is rife that Rahul chose to kickstart his campaign from Ambedkarnagar  with the intent of throwing the gauntlet at Mayawati , who won three Lok Sabha election from there in 1998, 1999 and 2004. Meanwhile heavy security arrangements have been made in Ambedkarnagar to prevent any clash between supporters of the parties.