In caste balance with Congress, BJP looks for Yogi edge

Gurgaon: UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath will address political rallies in the Gurgaon Lok Sabha constituency next week as the BJP brings its Hindutva face into an electoral mix where caste allegiances are known to play a decisive role.
BJP was hoping that the 2019 Lok Sabha polls too will be fought on this, but with the main opposition party Congress disrupting its plan by fielding a Yadav (Ahir) candidate, that too one hailing from Rewari, which also happens to be the hometown of its own candidate and sitting MP Rao Inderjit Singh, the party now appears to be looking at “other” factors to push for victory.
Among the “other” factors is the plan to invite Yogi to campaign for Inderjit in Gurgaon on May 8, before the seat goes to polls on May 12.
Party leaders had no qualms in admitting that the plan to ask Adityanath is directed towards consolidating Hindu votes.
Apart from the UP chief minister, Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and Union home minister Rajnath Singh will also campaign for Inderjit in Gurgaon on May 5 and May 7, respectively.
On Friday, Yogi Adityanath said that secularism is intact in India because of Hindus, indicating other communities don’t bear the onus of secularism.
In the past, the contest in Gurgaon has mostly been between the Hindu Yadav and Muslim Yadav candidates, with the majority of Muslim voters, especially in the Mewat region, voting for the Muslim candidate, and the non-Muslim votes consolidating for the Hindu Yadav candidate.
However, with none of the major political parties fielding a Muslim candidate the situation has changed, this year.
While Congress has fielded Captain Ajay Yadav, INLD too has fielded a non-Muslim in Virendar Rana.
The two Muslim names in the fray, Mehmood Khan of JJP and Rais Ahmad of the BSP-LSP alliance, don’t appear to have much traction with Muslim voters.
“We feel Congress might have an upper hand, since all Muslim votes in Mewat might go to the party. And since their candidate is also a Yadav, that too from Rewari, we are concerned. That’s why, we chose Yogi Adityanath over BJP’s 40-odd star campaigners, as he is known to make polarising statements. We’re sure both he and [Union home minister] Rajnath Singh will turbocharge [sic], consolidate and polarise Hindu voters,” said a BJP leader, requesting anonymity.
“We’re hoping that Yogi Adityanath will make polarizing statements in his speech here on Wednesday, to nudge the vacillating voters to make up their mind in our favour,” the BJP insider said.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will campaign for Ajay Yadav and address a gathering of supporters in Gurgaon on Saturday.