SP,BSP and Congress put up a united fight against the BJP

The by elections to the two Lok Sabha seats  Gorakhpur and Phulpur  are set to be cake walk for the ruling BJP as the opposition parties  remain in disarray failing to forge a  joint front and field joint candidate. Polling will be held on March 11. The two Lok Sabha seats go to by poll as they fell vacant as Gorakhpur MP Adityanath Yogi and Phulpur MP Keshav Prasad Maurya resigned to take over as chief minister and deputy chief minister.

After their worst ever poll debacle in March 2017 UP assembly elections the chastened leaders of the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samajwadi Party and the Congress publicly declared their willingness to put up a united fight against the saffron party. 

A year later, the two main opposition parties are singing a different tune. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has said his party would prefer to go it alone while the Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has ignored all calls for opposition unity. Interestingly, she has formed a pre-poll alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular), headed by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, for the Karnataka Assembly election later this year, but has not said a word about a possible alliance in Uttar Pradesh.

Samajwadi Party had contested the last assembly election in alliance with the Congress has fielded Santosh Nishad in Gorakhpur and Nagendra Patel in Phulpur.  Left to fend for itself, the Congress has fielded Sureetha Chatterjee Karim in Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra in Phulpur. Bahujan Samaj Party   has not fielded its candidates for both the seats.

The divided opposition clearly benefits the BJP, which also has the advantage of being in power. Of the three opposition parties, only the Congress was keen on an alliance in these bye-elections. As a small player in Uttar Pradesh, the party has little to gain by contesting on its own.  `` Had the opposition had put up common candidates, it would have sent out a message that a united opposition is ready to take on the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha election’’, said a Congress leader.

The Congress after failing to secure the support of the SP and the BSP for the by election is now trying to put up a brave front. Congress leaders argued it was not prudent to have an alliance for bye-polls so close to a next Lok Sabha election as it would demoralise the party’s cadre. “These bye-elections are an opportunity for all political parties to test the waters and energise their workers for the coming big election,” remarked a senior Congress leader. An alliance, the leader argued, would be seen as an admission of weakness and workers will either start looking for greener pastures or stop working.

The Congress living in eternal hope of an alliance with the Samajwadi Party    for the 2019 Lok Sabha election is nervous about Mayawati. ``Behanji holds the key to building a successful united opposition front in the electorally-significant state of Uttar Pradesh. By  allying with the  former prime minister Devegowda, for Karnataka assembly polls she has  demonstrated  she is not interested in  anti BJP secular grand alliance’’, said a Congress leader.

In 2014 Lok Sabha elections the BSP was wiped out as it failed to win even single seats out of total 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP, the party commands   over 20 percent vote share in UP.  It is estimated that if the three opposition parties contest the general election together, the BJP will find it difficult to replicate its performance in 2014, when it won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats, because the caste arithmetic will no longer be in its favour.