BJP ‘hawks’ let loose in western UP to raise pitch

New Delhi/Lucknow: Sensing that the situation is tough in western Uttar Pradesh, BJP strategists are looking at “measured and controlled” polarisation of votebank. 

Some of the Hindutva hawks and saffron candidates in western UP such as Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana, among others, who have been accused of giving hate speeches, have not been pulled up by the party leadership. 

The Ram temple issue has also been kept alive to signal to the Hindutva vote bank in western UP, which had seen communal riots in 2013. 

Playing the religious card, the party’s firebrand leader Yogi Adityanath Saturday said the alleged exodus of Hindus from Kairana and “love jihad” were important issues for the party. 

Saffron poll strategists, it was learnt, are hoping that polarisation in this region could boost up party’s numbers as the region has nearly 100 Assembly constituencies. 

Jats and Muslims are two dominant votebanks here and polarisation could impact the poll prospects of both the BJP and SP-Congress combine. 

Though the SP-Congress seems to be the current favourite of the Muslim votebank, polarisation of Hindu votebank would help the BJP. Mayawati’s BSP is also strong here. 

Despite harping on development and good governance as its main poll planks, saffron poll strategists are banking on “measured polarisation” in this region. Hindu migration from Kairana is a polarising issue and saffron leaders have been raising it since last year. 

Sources said BJP state leaders and cadres have been raking up this issue in campaign meetings even though most of the party’s top leaders are avoiding it in their public rallies. A senior BJP leader said candidates’ speeches are being monitored by the Election Commission, therefore, such issues are being raised in smaller gatherings and meetings. 

In western UP, where Muslims are in a significant number, Yogi Adityanath said that while “nationalist Muslims” like former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and party’s national spokesperson Shahnawaz Khan were “acceptable” to him, those Muslims who believed their icon was Osama Bin Laden were not. 

Earlier this week, the Gorakhpur MP had compared the “exodus” of Hindus from western Uttar Pradesh with the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. 

Only few days back, Mr Som, BJP candidate from Thana Bhawan seat, was booked on charges of inciting hatred.   

When asked whether he wanted to fuel communal passions, Yogi Adityanath asked, “Have you ever thought why riots take place only in western UP? I live in eastern UP but no riots have ever taken place there. In Purvanchal, if Hindus are safe, Muslims are safe too.”