Political analysts said Phulpur could see a close contest, unlike Gorakhpur, which is also set to vote on March 11 in a bypoll, but is likely to be swept by BJP due to CM Yogi Adityanath’s influence in his former constituency.
NEW DELHI: SP may have got a shot in the arm with the pledge of support from arch-rival BSP ahead of the bypoll for Phulpur Lok Sabha seat, but the jailed former MP, Ateeq Ahmad, may play a spoiler.
Ahmad, who is contesting as an independent, could split Muslim votes, thereby damaging SP, even as NCP, Peace Party, Nishad Party and RLD have also pledged support to the Akhilesh Yadav-led party.
Political analysts said Phulpur could see a close contest, unlike Gorakhpur, which is also set to vote on March 11 in a bypoll, but is likely to be swept by BJP due to CM Yogi Adityanath’s influence in his former constituency. “The understanding between BSP and SP could work in Phulpur but not in Gorakhpur,” said Badri Narayan, professor at Allahabad’s Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute.
“In the latter, BJP’s Brahmin candidate Upendra Shukla has led to a Brahmin-Thakur consolidation, the two dominant castes in Gorakhpur. There is also the influence of the Gorakhnath Mutt.
But Phulpur is different.” BJP is confident that with just a week to go for the polling, BSP will not be able to transfer votes of its supporters to SP given the diverse vote banks of the two parties. On Monday, CM Adityanath in a rally in Gorakhpur compared the tie-up to “one between a snake and a mongoose in the time of floods”.
Narayan, however, said: “Even if full vote transfer does not happen, some percentage of vote transfer could go in SP’s favour in Phulpur.” SP spokesman Sunil Yadav said Ahmad won’t be a factor in Phulpur. A senior SP leader said: “Phulpur will prove to be the laboratory for a possible grand alliance in 2019.”
On the other hand, BJP is counting on Ahmad splitting Muslim votes. BJP is also hoping that its ally Apna Dal would help consolidate the majority OBCs in Phulpur in its favour. BJP sent Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel to the constituency on Monday for campaigning.
BJP’s state chief MN Pandey said in Phulpur on Monday that while SP leaders tried to kill Mayawati in the UP guest house incident years ago, BJP had saved her life. “Now, she has joined hands with SP for a Rajya Sabha seat,” he said.
