NEW DELHI — Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh has not yet heard from his party about the Varanasi seat or his candidature. Though he still proclaims his intention to fight any parliamentary constituency in the country, including Varanasi, his party seems to be looking at Brahmin and Bhumihar candidates. Rajya Sabha member and former Congress legislative party leader in Uttar Pradesh assembly Pramod Tiwary, former Varanasi MP Rajesh Mishra and five-time legislator and Congress MLA Ajai Rai are the front-runners. Rai, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, had switched sides and contested against Murli Manohar Joshi only to come third after Bharatiya Janata Party (BSP)'s Mukhtar Ansari in 2009, Mishra was a miserable fourth. More than fielding a party nominee against BJP' s PM candidate Narendra Modi, Congress is seriously looking at the possibility to tap the “Brahmin angst” across Uttar Pradesh over the perceived “neglect of the community by the BJP.” According to a senior Congress functionary, “there is a feeling that the BJP has neglected Brahmins.” “They feel BJP has slighted some of their leaders like M.M. Joshi by asking him to shift out of his constituency. This may turn into caste polarization in the state,” the Congress functionary said.
