The seven-phase Uttar
Pradesh Assembly elections is beginning on February 11 when 73 constituencies
of 403 assembly will vote.
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav
The seven-phase Uttar
Pradesh Assembly elections is beginning on February 11 when 73 constituencies
of 403 assembly will vote. The top three contenders for power in the state have
ramped up their attack on their opponents and carved their different narratives
out of their core issues. Here are the issues BJP, BSP and SP-Congress are
focusing on:
Bharatiya Janata Party
The main problem for
the BJP is that it is still in need of a CM face. It has already run the risk
of alienating a large chunk of Dalit vote after RSS spokesperson Manmohan
Vaidya made anti-reservation remarks. Similar remarks had cost it dearly in
Bihar. The BJP will take confidence from the fact that it won 34.3 million votes
in the 2014 General Elections where it won 73 out of the 80 Lok Sabha
constituency wiping out the BSP and reducing SP to irrelevance. The vote share
was more than the SP and BSP combined when SP polled 18 million votes and BSP
polled 15.9 million votes. Hence the party will gain some confidence. It is
taking on the competition as the ‘saviour’ of Uttar Pradesh. Also, after
looking at the party’s manifesto it seems that the party is strongly intent on
polarising the Hindu vote as it bats for Hindu Right-appeasing poll promises.
Here are BJP’s three main poll issues:
Assembly Polls 2017: UP CM Akhilesh Yadav Holds
Rally In Riot-Hit Muzaffarnagar
1. Right
wing appeasement: The construction
of Ram Mandir comes up as a poll issue in BJP’s manifesto whenever UP goes to
polls and this time is no different. Even though the matter is stuck in court,
it doesn’t stop BJP from making use of it. Also, issues like Kairana ‘exodus’
and love jihad have resurfaced in public discussion. Thanks to leaders like
Hukum Singh, Sangeet Som, Suresh Rana, Sanjiv Balyan, Yogi Adityanath and
Ramchandra Katheria, BJP’s Hindu consolidation plan seems to be on track.
Furthermore, the party seems to see Muzaffarnagar issue as overdone. The
inclusion of Hindu exodus and Kairana in the party’s manifesto–Jan Sankalp
Patra–shows it will not go after Muslim votes with much force.
.Prime
Minister of India Narendra Modi along
with BJP National President Amit Shah,Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh
BJP state President Keshav Maurya at Party organised Parivartan Rally at
Ramabai Rally Ground in Lucknow. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)
2. Demonetisation
and corruption: PM Modi’s
demonetisation move was followed by multiple raids on hoarders of black cash.
BSP was also caught in a bind as the government alleged that many of their
offices may have stored illicitly aggregated money to be used in elections.
Modi’s cleverly timed move of demonetisation a few months before the elections
seems to have worked for him. In a matter of two months, the animosity directed
towards the PM is seemingly dying out and now he is projecting himself as a
revolutionary who changed the country’s economy and political funding by a
single move.
BJP supporters at PM Modi’s ‘Vijay Shankh Nad’
Rally in Meerut. (PTI Photo)
3. ‘Achhe
Din’: The promise of
Achhe Din will see its litmus test in these elections. The core of this promise
was job creation and farmer welfare. Financial security and housing for all
were key elements. In his party manifesto, BJP has made ambitious promises to
turn UP into a manufacturing hub focused on technology. Farmer welfare measures
like loan waivers, subsidised and easily available fertilisers like urea and
incentives in MGNREGA are issues he is banking on.
BSP
supremo Mayawati
Bahujan Samaj Party
Former chief minister
Mayawati is the dark horse and has been working under the radar all this while.
She had the the advantage of time after announcing her party’s candidates over
an year before the Opposition parties. Candidates have been on the ground,
increasing voter contact and diligently and slowly building support for
Mayawati to return to power. The three major poll issues of BSP:
1. Anti-reservation remarks by RSS and Brahminicalisation by BJP: Mayawati had
meandered through several poll issues in the past few months. However, as the
days inch closer, she has focused her attack on anti-reservation remarks by RSS
members. As the BJP is a political offshoot of the RSS, any such remarks have a
direct bearing on the party. After demonetisation, many of Mayawati’s
supporters had praised PM Modi for his ‘bold decision’. The leader has made
good use of the remarks to make sure BJP is not able to make inroads into her
territory
2. Muslim
consolidation: Mayawati knows
that it will be difficult for her to win the elections just on the guarantee of
her Dalit and a fair chunk of Brahmin voters. She needs a large share of the
Muslim voter. The fact that BSP has fielded 50 Muslim candidates in the first
two phases of elections, shows the party is taking the vote bank seriously,
particularly in western UP. She has tried to bank on the Muzaffarnagar riots
and rehabilitation of affected persons issue. She had earlier advocated that
voting for SP will not help Muslims as they won’t come to power and Congress
was not strong to make any inroads. Her argument to Muslims to avoid splitting
of votes between SP and Congress took a hit as SP and Congress formed an
alliance. The fight for Muslim polarisation and consolidation is also hard and
Mayawati is intent on winning this battle.
3. Law and
order situation in UP: SP
rule has always been identified with goons running loose and crimes being on
the rise. Police are usually alleged to be indifferent to people and the
general social environment remains hostile in most parts. BSP has taken that
issue to the centrestage. Also with the recent incidents of beef ban and
killings in places like Badaun, Mayawati has raised concerns of fear among
Dalits and Muslims from Gau Rakshaks and Right-Wing Hindutva fanatics.
wati had
meandered through several poll issues in the past few months. However, as the
days inch closer, she has focused her attack on anti-reservation remarks by RSS
members. As the BJP is a political offshoot of the RSS, any such remarks have a
direct bearing on the party. After demonetisation, many of Mayawati’s
supporters had praised PM Modi for his ‘bold decision’. The leader has made
good use of the remarks to make sure BJP is not able to make inroads into her
territory
Congress
vice president Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at
a road show in Lucknow. (PTI photo)
Samajwadi Party
After taking the reins
of the party, SP chief and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is
carrying out concerted attacks on PM Modi. The main poll issues of SP:
1. Attack
on demonetisation: SP has taken
demonetisation as BJP’s kryptonite. It is the one issue with which it can
confidently take on the BJP while attempting to regain its image of the
prominent state party that it was. During demonetisation and cash crunch,
farmers were one of the worst hit sections of society. Several thousands lost
their crop to pennies as middlemen and wholesalers refused to pay fair price
arguing shortage of cash. When people took tokens to withdraw limited money
from banks–which ran out of money frequently–farmers were out of money, lost of
options as planning for the next crop seemed a daunting task. SP has kept
raising those memories among voters.
have a
direct bearing on the party. After demonetisation, many of Mayawati’s
supporters had praised PM Modi for his ‘bold decision’. The leader has made
good use of the remarks to make sure BJP is not able to make inroads into her
territory
Rahul
Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav during poll campaign.
2. Muslim
consolidation: In the aftermath
of the Muzaffarnagar communal riots, the Akhilesh government was severely
criticised for its handling of the violence that claimed dozens of lives. Many
believed the Muslims will desert the SP. But the party seems to have shift the
focus from riots. Akhilesh cleverly forged an alliance with Congress which has
historically practiced soft secularism and banked on Muslim vote in UP. The
route the party has taken is politics of freebies and promise of safeguarding
the public from ‘Hindu Right-Wing influence’.
3. Reinventing image and alliance with Congress: As much as poll issues are important, SP
has been spending a significant share of its campaign time on promoting its
alliance with Congress. Akhilesh and Rahul share the stage everywhere in
election rallies and the idea is to show that both parties are growing stronger
with each other and not the more realistic view of one piggybacking on the
other for mutual benefit. The alliance was a major point of disagreement
between Akhilesh and his father Mulayam Singh as both suffered a fallout. SP
will try everything to prove the decision was right to gain credibility as a
party that is not shooting in the dark.
ters had praised PM Modi for his ‘bold decision’. The leader has made
good use of the remarks to make sure BJP is not able to make inroads into her
territory
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