Since Kurmi community is in dominant position in Purvanchal and central UP, moves are afoot in SP to bring it to SP fold as it was during days of Beni Prasad Verma. Akhilesh through his party’s expansion exercise has also been trying to remove the tag of “ SP a Yadavs’ party”. He has thus been trying to cash in on the disenchantment among a section of backward communities against the Yogi government’s “pro-Thakur” image. Thus, Yadav has been trying formula of Yadav-Backwards-Muslim combination to sail through in 2022 election.
M Hasan
Lucknow: Even as there is hectic organisational and governmental churning in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in UP for next year assembly elections, the Opposition-mainly the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party- have also launched exercise for electoral combination to make dent into the BJP base in the state. The state’s electoral battle largely revolves around caste combinations.
The Samajwadi Party, which has also started Mission 2022, has resorted to mobilise non-Yadav backward communities. The backward communities, which has been backbone of the Samajwadi Party in successive elections, had moved to the BJP during the last three elections- 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha and 2017 assembly elections. But now the SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has been expecting a section of backward communities especially most backward communities (MBCs) to come back to SP fold. For this reason, he has also opened the gate of electoral alliance with some of the parties belonging to backward communities.
While Apna Dal’s Anupriya Patel, who is part of NDA, is hoping rehabilitation in union ministry, her mother Krishna Patel has established contact with Akhilesh Yadav to explore the possibility of tie up with the SP. In this connection Krishna Patel’s daughter Pallavi Patel met Yadav here to discuss the prevailing political situation and the plan for alliance. Krishna Patel’s breakaway Apna Dal is also part of Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha of Omprakash Rajbhar. Pallavi Patel told newsmen that her party would soon decide strategy about the alliance. Similarly, Omprakash Rajbhar who has apparently distanced himself from the BJP, held a meeting here on Friday to chalk out action plan of the morcha. He too is reportedly in touch with the SP leadership.
The SP is in search of a prominent Kurmi leader as the space had fallen vacant after the death of Beni Prasad Verma. There are reports of the SP making efforts to bring expelled BSP leader Lalji Verma who has so far not opened his card. Similarly, another sacked BSP leader Ram Achchal Rajbhar is also in touch with Akhilesh Yadav. Since Kurmi community is in dominant position in Purvanchal and central UP, moves are afoot in SP to bring it to SP fold as it was during days of Beni Prasad Verma. Akhilesh through his party’s expansion exercise has also been trying to remove the tag of “ SP a Yadavs’ party”. He has thus been trying to cash in on the disenchantment among a section of backward communities against the Yogi government’s “pro-Thakur” image. Thus, Yadav has been trying formula of Yadav-Backwards-Muslim combination to sail through in 2022 election.
In Mayawati camp moves are afoot to hold Dalit vote along with a section of Muslim and Brahmin community for which SC Mishra has been tasked to once again mobilise the community. Mayawati hopes to win over a section of Brahmins because of perceived anger of the community against the BJP. She has been regularly holding divisional conferences in Lucknow to review the party’s preparedness for the election. At a meeting here today, she made some changes in zonal incharge of Purvanchal and Awadh divisions. In this connection fresh appointments have been made in Lucknow, Ayodhya, Devipatan, Prayagraj and Basti divisions.
