BJP fears Yadav war may eclipse Modi rally

New Delhi: There is certain unease in Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) as internal feud in Uttar Pradesh’s ruling Samajwadi Party deepens and turn of events keep getting messier by the day. And no, this unease has nothing to do with the possible spilt in the Yadav vote bank or how the numerically strong Muslim vote bank will react to the turmoil or how the Yadav clan’s fight could benefit the BJP. This unease is because of the SP and its leadership have been hogging headlines across the media for the past many days.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a crucial election rally in Lucknow on Monday and the BJP strategists are apprehensive that the turn of events in the SP could shadow the coverage of the Prime Minister’s ‘mega rally’ where he is expected to make some important announcement, keeping in mind the fast approaching crucial Assembly elections in this state.

The BJP’s opponents in the state have been trying to corner it and the Central government over the post-demonetisation hardships. So the BJP workers are hoping that Mr Modi would  “puncture” the Oppositions’ propaganda on the issue. The BJP leadership had given a target of seven to eight lakh of gathering for this “Parivartan Maharally” to its leaders and workers, who have been busy preparing since last few weeks as the saffron party projects itself as the best alternative to the dominant regional satraps.

Describing events within the SP as a “high profile political drama,” BJP’s state unit chief Keshav Prasad Maurya claimed that it was being done to divert people’s attention from Mr Modi’s important rally. Sounding confident that his party would come to power in UP, Mr Maurya said the ongoing drama in SP is an attempt to cover up the  “misgovernance” of the “most unsuccessful” CM of the state.

Reacting to the events in SP, Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said the “happenings in the SP is like a family drama with full of comedy but will end up in tragedy resulting in total pack up.” Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said people in the state are not “interested in family disputes irrelevant to their own plight.”

“SP is embroiled in a bitter family dispute, which does not interest the people as it does not concern their existing problems due to the incompetent government. People know it is only a political drama and they should rather be attentive to improving the future of coming generations,” said Mr Naqvi in Mumbai.