Benevolent BJP towards Shivpal and Mulayam joining him at dais to cause confusion among ranks
oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla
By Vinod Kumar Shukla
| Published: Saturday, October 13, 2018, 12:52 [IST]
New Delhi, Oct 13: The kind of politics being played in Uttar Pradesh is unlikely to keep opposition votes as one block, some kind of electoral arrangement could be made but bringing voters of the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parties on one platform seems elusive at least the king of politics happening in the state at the moment.
Some kind of Mahagathbandhan is being discussed in the state with the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal joining hands. But Congress and BJP failed to come to terms in neighbouring state Madhya Pradesh where elections have been announced. Samajwadi Party too is going alone in MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. So where is the meeting ground?
Have Congress-NCP sealed a 50:50 deal for LS polls
But it is argued that things will be on the track in Uttar Pradesh at the time of Lok Sabha elections but contradictions in the state are even bigger. The Uttar Pradesh government has allotted Shivpal Singh Yadav, uncle and chief of Samajwadi Secular Morcha, the splinter group pf Samajwadi Party led by former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. His father Mulayam Singh joins his brother in a programme of Samajwadi Secular Morcha in Lucknow while he missed the programme at SP headquarters on the occasion of Ram Manohar Lohia birth anniversary. So what message Akhilesh has for his shrinking base of party workers.
Similar confusion is about another Dalit icon emerging in the block as Chandrashekhar and another former chief minister Mayawati is not easy with him as he is more aggressive and tech-savvy which has more appeal among Dalit youth and they are even more aggressive. Congress MLA Alpesh Thakore, independent MLA supported by the Congress Jignesh Mevani and Hardik Patel supporting him is giving the clear message of them being more close to the Congress. So there is a confusion at the ground level which way to go.
Political analyst feel that Akhilesh Yadav is left alone in the party with the support of Azam Khan but his acceptability is not beyond Rampur and in the last Lok Sabha elections he failed to save even Rampur. With former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh giving Shivpal enough space to run his party properly and in case the opposition failing to join hands, some last minuets arrangements like Mayawati joining Shivpal cannot be ruled out. Experts also say that Mayawati is unlikely to accept Rashtriya Lok Dal in the grand alliance as the moment RLD joins it Dalit votes will go away and Mayawati won't like loosing them to Chandrashekar and finally to the Congress.
Is BJP scared of Congress' 'soft-Hindutva' strategy?
Akhilesh might be living with this impression that he is chief of the Samajwadi Party but the entire organisational structure has shifted with Samajwadi Secular Morcha who was looking after the organisation structure right from the time of Mulayam Singh Yadav as its chief. They are also under estimating the Congress which is gaining ground in the central UP among its traditional vote bank of Dalits and Brahmins. Lots of other fringe groups in the state too are in a position to harm these political parties and any division is going to benefit the BJP.
uttar pradesh congress bsp sp rld shivpal singh yadav mulayam singh yadav akhilesh yadav lok sabha elections 2019
Story first published: Saturday, October 13, 2018, 12:52 [IST]