After Mayawati says no to Congress, political scene hots up in UP

A day after BSP chief Mayawati ruled out any truck with the Congress in poll-bound states, leaving a question mark on a larger coalition against the BJP, former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Thursday suggested Shivpal Yadav’s Samajwadi Secular Morcha should consider allying with Mayawati.

“Mayawati is open to electoral ties with small players so Shivpal Singh Yadav should try,” tweeted Amar, who had earlier said he wanted Shivpal to join the BJP. The Shivpal camp is silent on Amar’s suggestion but the Samajwadi Party leaders say it was merely an attempt to derail the SP-BSP coalition.

The tweet by Amar, who has only recently become the national convener of the Rashtriya Yuva Hindu Vahini, followed after UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya ruled out any pre-poll truck with Shivpal Yadav’s Morcha, an outfit he floated after falling out with his nephew and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.

Maurya had suggested that Shivpal should consider merging his morcha into the BJP instead.

The BJP isn’t complaining as in Shivpal as well as Bhim Army leader Chandrashekhar they see an opportunity to cut into the OBC and Dalit votes.

Shivpal supporters deny that he is planning to play the role of a spoil sport, weaning away a chunk of SP’s OBC votes to harm the anti-BJP alliance.

“It is not worth taking notice what Amar Singh says. All that we can say is that the SP-BSP alliance is firmly on track and together we would defeat the BJP in 2019 LS polls,” said SP’s Abdul Hafeez Gandhi.

To counter BJP’s OBC outreach, the SP has launched its own OBC connect campaigns while the BSP has decided to strengthen its ‘bhai chara’ committees across the state, although the Bhim Army may pose some discomfort to the BSP.

The BJP, which has just finished holding OBC meets in the state capital, plans to organise district level OBC meets now. It has also decided to appoint at least two Dalits in all its booth level committees and would hold a massive Dalit meet.

In a subtle shift of strategy, the party, which usually relied on non-Jatav Dalits and non-Yadav OBCs, is aggressively wooing the Jatavs and the Yadavs too. While Jatavs are known to be loyalists of BSP chief Mayawati, who herself hails from the same Dalit sub caste, Yadavs are known to be staunch supporters of the SP, a party founded by Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The Bhim Army has following among section of young Dalits, especially in western UP. Though its leader Chandrashekhar has shown interest in joining the likely SP-BSP coalition against the BJP, Mayawati has spurned his offer describing him a stooge of the BJP. BJP leaders are happy with the development as they feel Chandrashekhar in the end would end up confusing Dalit voters.

The BJP too has its worries. Days after Savitri Bai Phule, its Dalit MP from Bahraich, described BJP’s cleanliness drive or ‘swacchta abhiyaan’ a sham, party MP from Allahabad Shyama Charan Gupta lashed out at his own party saying there was more corruption in the BJP regime than it was during the SP and BSP governments.

BJP leaders say that such public outbursts like those of Phule and Gupta against the party indicate that they had knowledge of party’s plan to not repeat them in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

“There are several leaders in both BJP and the opposition who may not be repeated for one reason or the other. So the game is opening up after Mayawati spiced up the 2019 contest,” said Athar Siddiqui of the Centre of Objective Research and Development.

BJP’s ally Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) too has its plans. SBSP leader Om Prakash Rajbhar is holding a rally on October 27 during which he could declare his party’s decision to sever ties with the BJP.

“The BJP’s upper caste MPs are sceptical and jittery of backlash from the Brahmins and other upper caste voters in UP who are upset with the party’s decision to impose stringent provisions of SC/ST Act. Then the party doesn’t know how many rebels are waiting to strike at the right time. But the BJP too is keeping watch on rebels in the SP, BSP and the Congress. It appears an even battle but you never know how it would shape up when PM Modi begins campaign,” a party MP said.

First Published: Oct 05, 2018 09:43 IST