News Analysis India

Tag: Uttar Pradesh Elections

  • BJP govt in Uttar Pradesh both anti-Brahmin and anti-Dalit: BSP leader

    Mishra said that the BSP has always supported Brahmins and honoured them in the party. Brahmins have been given key responsibilities in the party, he added.

  • Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls: Samajwadi Party to hold series of meetings to woo Brahmins

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: With an eye on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Samajwadi Party will be holding a series of meeting of intellectuals as part of its Brahmin outreach programme. The BSP has already started a series of ‘prabuddh sammelans’ (intellectual meets) under the leadership of its Brahmin face and party general secretary Satish Chandra Misra from Ayodhya.

    Senior SP leaders belonging to the Prabuddh cell of the party and those of the Parshuram Peeth met SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday and the party president has given a go ahead to hold a series of meetings beginning from Ballia next month, party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said.

    Unlike the BSP, SP Prabudh Sabha had been working with the people since the past one year. The Parshuram peeth led by former party MLA Santosh Pandey had also expressed the desire to hold such meetings and the party president has given a go ahead, Chaudhary said.

    There is a lot of anger among the people over the continued “harassment” of Brahmins and others and also alleged atrocities during the BJP government, he said, adding that the people will be made aware that they will get justice only under the SP led government in the state.

    Senior Brahmin leaders including former speaker of the state Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey, president of the intellectuals cell Manoj Pandey, Sanatan Pandey and others will be chalking out the party’s strategy on these sammelans.

    The leaders will also be launching tours and conferences in different parts of the state to connect with the upper castes before the coming elections and apprise people of the works done by the party during the government led by it .

    Earlier, BSP chief Mayawati had announced a campaign from Ayodhya to reach out to Brahmin voters and urge the community not to be “misled” by the BJP. Mayawati had claimed that the people from the “upper castes” were repenting voting for the BJP in the last state elections and said their interests will be safeguarded if her party comes to power.

  • Uttar Pradesh polls : On mission to revive Congress, Priyanka Gandhi to camp in state from August

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: On a mission to rebuild the grand old party in Uttar Pradesh ahead of 2022 assembly polls, Congress national general-secretary announced on Sunday that she would camp in the state only from next month to ensure that the party organization is revived up to the last possible village.

    In an informal chat with journalists at ex-minister and former BSP leader Nasimuddin Siddiqui’s residence in Lucknow, the Congress leader admitted that the party organization had become weak, but proactive efforts were underway to bring the organization back to life across the state. She said efforts are on to ensure that every village has at least 5-6 dedicated Congress workers.

    ALSO READ| Open-minded on forging alliance with other parties for Uttar Pradesh polls: Priyanka Gandhi

    When queried by journalists about the possibility of Congress aligning with other parties to defeat BJP, Priyanka said, “we’re not close minded on the issue, but any step would only be taken keeping in mind that the interests and organization of our party aren’t compromised. It would be too early to say anything about future tie-ups, but nothing would be done at the cost of our party organization.”

    She also reportedly said that former MPs and MLAs are welcome to contest the 2022 polls in the state.

    According to a senior Congress leader and former MLA from East UP (who didn’t want to be named), “Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s three day visit is just a start of her well laid plans to revive the party and make it a major force against ruling BJP in the 2022 polls. Unlike Rahul Gandhi, who wasn’t totally accessible to us, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is much more accessible. She has told us to stay in touch directly with her. She came to Lucknow on Friday after doing her homework very well about UP politics up to micro level and is in an aggressive mood to defeat the BJP. She has told us that the prime enemy of Congress and people of state is BJP.”  

    The Congress’s political graph in UP has been continuously nose-diving. The party which won 269 seats in 1985 assembly polls and 94 seats in 1989 polls, has since then failed to even cross the 50 seats mark in successive assembly polls in the state. In 2017 polls, the party, despite being in alliance with the then ruling Samajwadi Party, came up with its worst performance by winning just 7 seats.

  • Seven ministers from poll-bound Uttar Pradesh; OBC & SC get lion’s share

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW:  With an eye on the 2022 Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inducted a maximum seven new ministers from Uttar Pradesh in the Union Council of Ministers.  Knowing well that the non-Yadav OBC and non-Jatav Scheduled Castes (SC) had played an integral role in BJP’s historic 312 seats in 2017, the Wednesday’s Cabinet expansion kept in mind addressing the caste arithmetic of UP, as barring one new minister, Ajay Kumar Mishra ‘Teni,’ all others hailed from the OBC or the SC segment.

    With the Patel (Kurmi) caste being second only to Yadavs in numbers in the OBC, two new inductees Pankaj Chaudhary and Anupriya Singh Patel are from the same caste, which has traditionally aligned with the BJP. The return of Anupriya (daughter of powerful Kurmi community leader late Sonelal Patel) in Team Modi is being seen as a timely effort by the BJP to keep Apna Dal (S) in good humour.

    The third OBC leader to make to the Union Cabinet is BL Verma. He belongs to the influential Lodh Rajput community which has a strong presence in central UP and Braj region.The three new SC inductees are Kaushal Kishore (who is considered close to Amit Shah), five-time MPs Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma and SPS Baghel.

    Through the re-induction of powerful SC leader Dr Virender Kumar (presently the third time MP from Tikamgarh) of Madhya Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region, the BJP has tried to strike a chord with the SC voters of adjoining Bundelkhand region of UP also.

    Keeping Brahmin vote in mind, the NDA inducted two-time MP from Lakhimpur Kheri seat Ajay Kumar Mishra ‘Teni.’The Cabinet expansion, however, didn’t have any new minister from the Jat caste which is at the forefront of the nationwide farmers agitation. 

    NISHAD Party gets raw deal from CentreApart from the Jat community which did not find place in the revamped Union Council of Ministers, another notable exception was BJP ally NISHAD Party, whose president Sanjay Nishad has recently tried to play pressure politics with the BJP, demanding that he be declared deputy chief minister face of the ruling alliance while going into the 2022 polls.

  • BJP’s ally JDU eyeing to contest UP polls alone if talks fail to materialise

    Express News Service
    PATNA: After a solo outing in West Bengal and Assam, BJP’s ally in Bihar and NDA member JDU may decide to contest alone in the forthcoming UP assembly elections in 2022 

    For this, JD-U is learnt to have started preparations in consultation with the UP unit of the party prior to the scheduled assembly elections in 2022.

    On Wednesday, National General Secretary of JD-U, KC Tyagi, dropped a political bombshell talking to a TV that the JD-U may go alone in the UP assembly elections only after there would not be a talk on seat-sharing or alliance with BJP.

    The JD-U is heading the NDA government in alliance with BJP and two other smaller allies in Bihar even after slipping to the third position in terms ofseats won in the 2020 state assembly elections.

    Tyagi claimed that first talks will be held with BJP on alliance and seat sharing. If no progress is made, only then the JD-U will contest alone in over 200 seats in the forthcoming UP assembly elections in 2022.

    “We have been in the NDA in Uttar Pradesh in the past also. In 2017 elections also, we were fully prepared. But after the consensus in the party, we decidednot to fight, which benefited the BJP. I have spoken to Yogi Adityanath and said that the popularity of Nitish Kumar in the backward society can also be usedin UP elections”, Tyagi told the media.

    He said that the JD-U has electoral base in 200 seats in UP and if decides to contest alone in the polls, the JDU can fight in 200 seats.

    Meanwhile, sources said that there are 15 districts in UP including Sonebhadra, Mirzapur, Fatehpur and others wherein the Kurmi voters apart from other classes ofOBC have considerable electoral presence.

    “Nitish Kumar is one of the popular leaders among them because of development works done in Bihar along with BJP. So, there would not be any problem if we go alone in the UP polls”, a senior JD-U leader, preferring anonymity said. Meanwhile, JD-U sources in Patna said that KC Tyagi is likely to lead UP JD-U in the polls depending upon the political equations and situation. The UP JD-U has started the process of candidate selections in principle considering the candidates profiles and all equations in mind with the proper consultation with the district heads.

    However, Tyagi also said since JD-U is a part of the National Democratic Alliance, therefore, the first priority will be to enter the election fray with the BJP. He ruled out the possibility of political alliance with Mulayam Singh Yadav.

    Earlier, JD-U had fought alone in West Bengal, Assam and Jharkhand assembly elections. In West Bengal, JD-U did not win even a single seat and all its candidates forfeited their deposits. When contacted, Bihar BJP leaders refused to comment on the developments leaving further decision to the party’s senior central leaders.

     

  • No CM face from BJP before elections in Uttar Pradesh, hints OBC leader  

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: IF the recent statements of  two BJP backward class leaders are anything to go by, the party seems to be planning a repeat of Assam strategy in the Uttar  Pradesh election.The BJP contested without a CM candidate in Assam and later made Himanta Biswa Sarma the new CM.“Our focus is first on winning the 2022 polls, the central leadership will decide the face in the state after electoral triumph and it will be welcomed by all,” UP Cabinet minister Swami Prasad Maurya said.

    Maurya, who hails from the OBC category’s Maurya caste, made the  statements just a day after deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya too had talked on similar lines. “It’s not me or anyone else in the state, who’ll decide the party’s face in UP, it will be decided by the party’s top brass in Delhi,” he had said.BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh and UP in-charge Radha Mohan Singh reached Lucknow on Monday for a three-day visit.

    Since last few days, the BJP is focussing on bolstering its ties with the non-Yadav OBC castes, as seen in the recent meetings with Apna Dal (S) MP Anupriya Patel and Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad.According to informed sources, the BJP leadership is also working proactively for uniting the breakaway faction of Apna Dal led by Anupriya’s mother Krishna Patel by fielding the latter as a ruling coalition’s candidate in the MLC poll.

    SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is already working to forge tie ups with Kurmis and Mauryas. The SP already has an alliance with the Jat-dominated RLD.Realising that the SP is working actively to woo the non-Yadav OBC voters, the BJP has started working to prevent any erosion in its OBC vote and going faceless in the polls could be a part of the plan of not annoying any caste in a state which is divided sharply on caste as well as communal lines.

  • UP Assembly polls: Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad stitches alliance with Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad on Saturday met Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party president Om Prakash Rajbhar and agreed to contest the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh as part of the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha.

    Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party general secretary Arun Rajbhar in a statement said their coalition will contest on all 403 seats in the state and the Bhim Army chief agreed to be part of it.

    We are trying to form the government in the state on issues of education, health, electricity and employment, he said.

    “In the 2022 assembly elections, we will form government in the state and give free education and power,” Arun Rajbhar said, adding that “whosoever wants to stop the BJP, they are welcome in the Morcha”.

    In December, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi announced his party’s intention to fight the next state elections in Uttar Pradesh as part of a front led by Om Prakash Rajbhar, a former BJP ally.

    “We are now part of Mr Rajbhar’s morcha,” he said after meeting the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief here.