Strife splits Samajwadi Party’s core votebank

Lucknow: The ongoing strife in the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh could deal a major blow to the party’s core vote base that comprises Muslims and Yadavs.

The tussle for leadership in the party, that has left the Yadav clan sharply divided, has led to a division in the party’s votebank.

While Muslims are completely confused over the divided SP’s ability to counter the growing influence of the BJP, the loyalty of the Yadav community is also getting divided.

Muslims in Lucknow are now looking for options since they feel that the ruling SP can no longer combat the BJP.

The BSP could be an option but a section of the community is still not sure that a BJP-BSP alliance would not emerge after the polls.

“The SP stands weakened and our community is not too confident of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s ability to challenge the BJP in the present circumstances. Mulayam Singh has been our leaders and has worked for the minorities but the same cannot be said for his son who has let us down during the Muzaffarnagar and Dadri incidents,” said Shafi Qureshi, a garment dealer in the old city area.

“Yes Muslims are worried and disappointed over these developments because they want to stop communal forces,” admitted senior UP minister Azam Khan.

The Muslim dilemma is also reflected in what the clerics say. A prominent Sunni cleric, who spoke on condition of anonymity, admitted that the division in the SP did not augur well for Muslims.

“Our priority is to keep communal forces out but a divided SP cannot pose a challenge to these forces. We may now have to resort to tactical voting and choose candidates who can defeat the BJP, irrespective of the party to which they belong. This splitting of Muslim vote will give an advantage to the BJP but we have no choice,” said the cleric who is known for his good relations with chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

As for the Yadavs, there seems to be a generational division in the community over the recent events in the SP.

The young generations are fully supportive of chief minister Akhilesh but the senior Yadavs are upset at the manner in which Mulayam was ousted from his post by his son.