Congress facing an uphill task

It is a season of deals and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members have been swelling with pride ever since Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party aligned with the BJP, thereby placing its bet on a winning horse. Former Army General V K Singh, too, formally joined the party. The Congress fold, on the other hand, appears to be marked by desertions and squabbles. Congress' Jagadambika Pal, a senior leader from eastern Uttar Pradesh, has been making his "disappointment" evident to the party. Disgruntled at not being appointed even spokesperson, despite always defending the party publicly, he is rumoured to be moving to the BJP. Two other Congress seniors Beni Prasad Verma and P L Punia, are reportedly spoiling the party's prospects in UP, by working against each other. In all the wheeling-dealing, the dice seems to be heavily loaded against the Congress.