UP polls: Blow for Congress as state vice president Lalitesh Tripathi is set to join SP

In a setback for Congress ahe of UP polls, sources indicated that its state vice president and former MLA Lalitesh Pati Tripathi has resigned from party. He is great-grandson of late Congress veteran Kamalapati Tripathi who served as Chief Minister of UP from April 1971 to June 1973. Moreover, his far Rajesh Pati Tripathi was elected to Legislative Council on a Congress ticket. Having served as Marihan MLA between 2012-2017, Lalitesh Pati Tripathi was appointed as UP Congress vice president in 2019 and was me in charge of 13 districts of state.

young leer has suffered a setback in recent years though with his failure to retain Marihan seat in 2017 Assembly election and his loss to Union Minister Anupriya Patel in 2019 General Election from Mirzapur. As per sources, he is likely to join Samajwi Party very soon. While Sonia Gandhi-led party is yet to confirm news of Tripathi's resignation, latter has given a big hint by removing any mention of Congress in his Twitter bio. 

Congress' UP election campaign

In 2017 Uttar Presh Assembly election, BJP won a whopping 312 seats in 403-member House, whereas BSP could win only 19 seats. On or hand, SP-Congress alliance failed to bear fruit as it could win in only 54 constituencies. While this was seen as a mandate for PM Modi as BJP h not declared any CM candidate, Gorakhpur MP Yogi ityanath was a surprise pick for post.  Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vra faces an uphill task of reviving party in UP where it won only 7 seats in 2017 Assembly polls. 

dressing media on September 12, senior Congress leer Salman Khurshid indicated that party may not project Vra as CM face before election. Revealing that Congress will contest all 403 seats in state, he ded, " party will not form an alliance with any party. We will contest elections with firm belief. Party workers will go to each constituency to know problems being faced by local people". To bolster its chances, Congress has decided to embark on a 12,000 km-long yatra 'Hum Vachan Nibhayenge Pratigya' (we will fulfill our promises) Yatra across state. As a part of this mass outreach initiative, this Yatra will cover major villages and towns.