Major political parties in Uttar Pradesh — Samajwadi Party, Bhartiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party are facing depletion in their core vote banks.
Major political parties in Uttar Pradesh — Samajwadi Party, Bhartiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party are facing depletion in their core vote banks.
Coming on the eve of Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, these parties are now trying to add on other caste groups to their vote base in order to make up for the loss.
The ruling Samajwadi Party is facing erosion in its Muslim vote base. The party is on a sticky wicket in western UP where Muslims are upset with the Akhilesh government for having failed to protect them during the Muzaffarnagar riots.
The proverbial last straw has been the fact that SP did not nominate any Muslim candidate for the Rajya Sabha.
“There is no denying the fact that Muslims are angry with the SP and it will take nothing short of a miracle to make them vote for us this time,” admitted a senior Muslim legislator.
The SP leaders are aware of the anger among Muslims and are now desperately trying to woo the Thakur community. The Samajwadi leadership has sent one Thakur leader (Amar Singh) to the Rajya Sabha and three to the UP legislative council.
The BSP, on the other hand, is facing the threat of desertion by dalits, who form the core vote base of the party. A number of dalit leaders have left the BSP to join the BJP in recent months. Dalits are apparently upset over the importance being given to Muslim and Brahmin leaders in the party and also the fact that no dalit leader in the party can claim to enjoy the confidence of Ms Mayawati.
The BSP is reaching out to upper castes, mainly Brahmins, and Muslims by promising them a large chunk of tickets in the Assembly elections.
The BJP, meanwhile, is facing Brahmin anger because of its thrust on OBCs and dalits. The party has tried to placate Brahmins by nominating a Brahmin leader, Shiv Pratap Shukla, to the Rajya Sabha but this is apparently not enough.
Senior political analyst Dr Ramesh Dixit said, “Almost all parties are trying to reach out to new vote banks and are neglecting their traditional voters.”
The extensive cross voting in the Vidhan Parishad elections has amply indicated the angst prevailing among legislators and this could make all calculations go wrong in the Assembly elections.
