1st Phase UP: Direct Fight between SP-INC & BSP, BJP fighting for 4th Place???
Monday, February 06, 2017
If signals emanating from the grass root
level in Western Uttar Pradesh are being read correctly, the BJP appears to be
facing an existential crisis. Don’t be surprised if the saffron outfit is seen
fighting the third and fourth spots along with Choudhary Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya
Lok Dal. For, most of the 71 constituencies that go to polls in the first phase
on 11 February are likely to witness a virtual direct contest between the
SP-Congress Alliance and the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Indeed,
politics is in the process of witnessing a tectonic shift this time for three
reasons: First, the Jats who had formed the core of BJP’s vote base along with
Brahmins, Banias and Thakurs are now up in arms against the saffron outfit.
They are tilted towards the RLD and the Alliance depending on the strength of
individual candidates from constituency to constituency in all the six
divisions of Meerut, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Bareilly, Agra and Aligarh.
Second, there is no
reverse polarisation for the simple reason that there is no communally
surcharged atmosphere this time. Peace prevails. And we are, more or less, back
to the pre-2014 days when there wasn’t any Muzaffarnagar riot factor to cause a
huge communal divide. Muslim voters are now both united and divided – united in
their single point agenda to beat the BJP and divided between the Alliance and
the BSP when it comes to weighing the chances of individuals candidate’s
strength vis-à-vis the saffron camp.
And
third, the so far hidden negative impact of notebandi
is beginning to come to the fore. Little wonder then that even other non-Jat
farming communities including powerful Gujjars look inclined mainly towards the
BSP and the Alliance.
What
further adds poignancy to BJP’s woes is the fact that there is a general ‘feel
good aura’ around the Alliance that’s impacting the minds of the otherwise
unattached young voters cutting across caste lines. Remember, it was this group
of voters that had triggered the big Modi-wave all across UP in 2014.
Also
remember that in the past 25 years or so the SP and the Congress had, at best,
been minor forces in Western UP. Their fortunes seem to have changed
dramatically since the formation of the alliance ten days ago. They are the new
favourites of Muslims and OBCs. Didn’t you notice the confident, self-assured
looks of both Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav that were there for all to see
during the road shows in Lucknow and Agra? Smiling and waving to the crowds,
they were basking in the popular response. Obviously.
Even
Mayawati, who has been addressing huge rallies in strategic places including
Meerut and Muzaffarnagar, appears to be aware of the fact that BJP’s otherwise
solid vote base of Jats, Brahmins, Banias and other upper caste Hindus is no
longer an impregnable fortress. While Jats are prepared to give another chance
to the RLD, more and more upper caste Hindus are beginning to look towards the
Alliance as an option.
Read
full article: HERE
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