Setback to SP as cleric-led outfit backs Mayawati

LUCKNOW:  The bypoll contest for Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat has taken an interesting turn with Rashtriya Ulama Council  (RUC), headed by cleric Aamir Rashadi Madni, extending support to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Shah Alam aka Guddu Jamali, making the fight difficult for Samajawadi Party’s contestant Dharmendra Yadav.

Azamgarh is set to witness a triangular contest with the BSP breaching into the Muslim vote base of the SP and the BJP eyeing Yadav votes for its candidate and Bhojpuri actor Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirhaua’. The SP mainly banks upon Muslim-Yadav combination in Azamgarh,  which was vacated by party stalwart Azam Khan and is considered an SP bastion.

After getting the RUC’s support, the BSP candidate has now become sure of his victory. In fact, RUC enjoys a considerable clout in three assembly segments— Sadar , Gopalpur and Mubarakpur — of Azamgarh constituency. Even though the BSP failed to win even a single one of the 10 assembly segments of Azamgarh in the 2022 assembly poll, the party was successful in winning four seats with RUC’s support in 2017.

The voting for the Lok Sabha bypoll in Azamgarh will be held on June 23. While extending support to BSP, RUC spokesperson Talha Rashadi said his party has decided to back the one which had stood by the people of the district in their difficult times, especially during the pandemic. “It was a demand of the people of the district that Guddu Jamali ji should be supported for he has proved himself. The Rashtriya Ulama Council has decided to support Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali,” said Talha Rashadi.

As per political analysts, RUC’s announcement is sure to dent the SP’s trusted Muslim-Yadav combination. Besides, SP would also have the challenge to keep its Yadav vote bank intact, especially after the switch over of its senior leader Ram Darshan Yadav to the BJP. Yadav is believed to have a lot of influence in the Mubarakpur assembly seat of Azamgarh.