By Rahil Nora Chopra
With the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections around the corner, BJP is working strenuously to ensure a third term for the Yogi Adityanath administration, even as it continues to face anti-incumbency in the Centre due to a spirited Opposition. BJP is strategically planning to counter Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s high-voltage PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) outreach. Determined to prevent the election narrative from being dominated by caste equations, the BJP’s top strategists are looking to shift the focus to governance, development, law and order, and grassroots mobilisation. According to sources, the party aims to bring the Samajwadi Party’s previous tenures back into the limelight, reminding voters of controversies and flashpoints associated with its rule. BJP is also gearing up for a large-scale regional mobilisation campaign across all six organisational divisions of Uttar Pradesh — Western UP, Braj, Rohilkhand, Awadh, Bundelkhand and Purvanchal. Through mega rallies and regional outreach programmes. Although party leaders said that the party’s reliance on women voters and the image of the chief minister are some of the key factors that will see the party through. On the ground, the party is also looking to empower its booth-level machinery. Its panna-pramukh network and local booth committees are being reactivated to magnify voter outreach, monitor constituency-level feedback and ensure regular interaction with voters.
OWAISI CITES ABDUL EL-SAYED’S WIN IN MICHIGAN, US TO ROUSE INDIAN MUSLIMS
With the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections on the verge, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has sought to link the victory of Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race in the USA with the Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. Owaisi had remarked on Sayed’s win that ‘’if Abdul can win in the USA the Muslims in UP must also realise their political strength’’. In recent speeches in Uttar Pradesh, Owaisi has urged Muslims to stop depending on the Nehru-Gandhis or Yadavs and build leaders from within the community. He has been criticized for his comments from Telangana Congress. “Owaisi is exporting a leadership formula he never implemented in Hyderabad or Telangana.” Furthermore, SP leaders were more blunt in their response, stating that Owaisi cited the example of Sayed, who was of Egyptian origin, only to divide the Muslims in the state and benefit the BJP in the polls. The AIMIM planned to focus primarily on the assembly seats where Muslims were in large numbers. The party has identified such seats and Owaisi is likely to address public meetings there in the run up to the polls.
AKHILESH TAUNTS BJP OVER BAGHESHWAR RELIGIOUS LEADER’S COMMENTS
In an apparent attempt to corner the BJP over Bageshwar Dham religious leader Dhirendra Shastri’s controversial remarks comparing Lord Rama and Lord Krishna, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav told that such remarks are humiliating to both ‘Raghuvanshi’ (Rama’s lineage) and ‘Yaduvanshi’ (Krishna’s lineage) as he extends support to the demand by the Mathura seers to ban Shastri’s entry into the state, especially the ‘Braj’ region. ‘’Inhone (Shastri) raghuvanshion aur yaduvanshion-dono ki bhavnayen aahat ki hai…ab inhen na Braj mein pravesh milega na Avadh mein’’ (He has hurt the sentiments of both Raghuvanshis and Yaduvanshis….Now he won’t get entry into either Braj or Avadh), Akhilesh said in a post on his social media handle. However, Akhilesh’s aggressive stand on the matter seemed to be aimed not only at cornering the BJP but also to send a message to his core Yadav vote bank that only the SP condemned Shastri’s remarks on Lord Krishna.
MAYAWATI PLANS MEGA RALLY IN UP ON AMBEDKAR’S DEATH ANNIVERSARY
The BSP has strengthened preparations for the 2027 Assembly elections.BSP supremo Mayawati plans to carry out a massive rally in the state on December 6, the day marks the death anniversary of Dalit icon B R Ambedkar, in a bid to put forth the message to her detractors that her core vote bank (Dalit) is still intact. The rally would be held at the Ambedkar Social Change Site (Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal) in Lucknow. The decision was taken at a meeting of the BSP office bearers held in Lucknow on Thursday. Meanwhile, the meeting emphasized on organisational preparedness for the elections, including candidate selection and efforts to expand outreach among various sections of society, particularly economically weaker groups. Addressing the party leaders, Mayawati said the BSP’s objective remained strengthening the self-respect and dignity of the Bahujan community and advancing the mission of ‘Our Vote, Our Rule’ through democratic means. BSP’s vote percentage has been declining with every election in the state in the past decade. In the 2022 assembly elections, BSP experienced its worst electoral performance in the state as it could manage to win only one seat with a vote share of 12.8 per cent. The party failed to open its account in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
CHIRAG PASWAN HINTS AT GOING SOLO IN UP POLLS, IF TALKS WITH BJP FAIL
Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) national president and Union Minister Chirag Paswan said that his party is all set and ready to contest all 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, if alliance talks with the BJP failed. Addressing a public rally in Varanasi, Chirag said some political parties spoke about the Constitution and social justice, but remained quiet when it came to securing people’s rights. The LJP(RV) draws its core support in Bihar from the Dalit Paswan community. In Uttar Pradesh, its push has in the past been aimed at Dalit voters outside the Jatav community, with a particular focus on the Pasi community. The Jatavs have traditionally backed Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party. Dalits or Scheduled Castes make up about 21 per cent of Uttar Pradesh’s population. The BJP has had a similar emphasis, whereas the Samajwadi Party is trying that too. Meanwhile, the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), led by Om Prakash Rajbhar, indicated that it will oppose Bihar-based parties’ attempts to expand in Uttar Pradesh. (IPA Service)
