After Amethi, the BJP has now turned its focus on another Congress bastion Rae Bareli to corner UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in her own parliamentary constituency in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The party national president Amit Shah will hold a public rally on Saturday at GIC Ground in Sonia's pocket borough Rae Bareli to announce joining of Dinesh Singh, a Congress MLC, and his brother Rakesh Singh and Awadesh Singh, the Congress MLA from Harchandpur and panchayat chairman respectively.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP state president Dr Mahendra Pandey, party state general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal, minister Swati Singh, Suresh Pasi and several other ministers and top leaders will be attending the BJP rally, being viewed as the first and massive show of strength in Sonia Gandhi's pocket borough Rae Bareli. She has been elected four consecutive times from Rae Bareli since 2004.

The influential Congress MLC Dinesh Singh has already announced his decision to join the BJP. He has leveled serious charges against the 'Gandhi Parivar' on the eve of Shah's visit to Rae Bareli. Dinesh Singh has also shown keen interest to contest 2019 Lok Sabha polls on the BJP ticket against Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli.

Advertising

Advertising

"The Gandhi Parivar is running the Congress party as a private limited company and personal fiefdom. There is no internal democracy and no one is allowed to raise any issue plaguing the party before the party high command. Priyanka Gandhi cheated on me. She forced me to write my resignation when I sought assembly ticket for my brother," charged Singh, whose family is famous in Rae Bareli as 'Panchvati Parivar'.

He alleged that true Congress men now feel suffocated under the party leadership, led by one Gandhi to another. "Many more Congress leaders would quit the party in Rae Bareli and Amethi in coming days to wipe the party out from Uttar Pradesh," he claimed.

In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had fielded Supreme Court lawyer Ajay Agarwal against Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli. Unlike Smriti Irani in Amethi against Rahul Gandhi, Agarwal could stand nowhere against Sonia. Like Amethi, BJP President Amit Shah is now looking for a strong candidate to take on UPA Chairperson in her constituency in 2019 polls.

Through Saturday's public function and joining of once close aides of Sonia Gandhi, the BJP leadership aims to give a message to people ahead of Karnataka Assembly polls how senior Congress leaders, close to their top leadership, are dumping the party before polls.

Buoyed by the visit of Amit Shah, massive arrangements are being made at the GIC ground by the 'Panchvati Parivar' to turn the pubic function of their joining as the BJP's first 'show of strength' in Congress citadel Rae Bareli.

Big Show Today

Buoyed by the visit of Amit Shah, massive arrangements are being made at the GIC ground in Rae Bareli by the ‘Panchvati Parivar’ to turn the pubic function of their joining the BJP as a show of strength in the citadel of Gandhi family.