It
is often said ‘Uttar Pradesh is India and India is Uttar Pradesh’. A win in
India’s most populous state, can be a game-changer in national elections for
any party, as it accounts for 80 out of 545 parliamentary seats. Also UP has
gifted many Prime Ministers to the country.
As
the two regional foes-turned-friends Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party
are inching closer towards a Grand Alliance in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2019
Lok Sabha elections minus the Congress, the poll scene is becoming interesting.
The Congress could still become a coalition partner if there is breakthroughs
in the alliance talks but as of now the two regional satraps want to keep the
Congress out, as it does not have a place in their scheme of things, as yet.
They would like to win the maximum number of seats in their strongholds, and
take matters from there to a post poll scenario to bid for the top job.
The
SP and BSP do not need the Congress, which is a lightweight in that crucial
state. Secondly, the Congress votes are
not transferable. Thirdly, the SP feels that the 2017 Assembly SP-Congress
alliance experiment did not help the party. Also the Congress did not include
the lone SP legislator in the recent Madhya Pradesh cabinet. Though it was the Congress that has been
stressing the need to bring the regional parties together to defeat the BJP,
after winning Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls it
failed to honour the demands of these smaller parties. Fourthly, Mayawati is
worried about some Dalit votes moving to the Congress. She has made her own
political calculations, keeping the interests of her party in mind. Fifthly, they feel a three-corner contest
would benefit the alliance as it can stop the Congress votes going to the BJP
in protest against the Grand Old Party joining the alliance, as the former’s
core voters are from the Dalits, Other Backward Classes and the
minorities.
The
Grand Alliance might include the Rashtriya Lok Dal of Ajit Singh and some
smaller parties. The RLD, once strong amid sugarcane farmers of Western UP, has
just started reorganizing itself. The
alliance is also trying to get Om Prakash Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj
Party and the Krishna Patel faction of Apna Dal.
The
alliance not only has its arithmetic but also chemistry as the once bitter
enemies — Mayawati (BSP) and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav — are now on “aunt and
nephew” terms. In 2014 the BJP had a vote share of 42.63 per cent in UP, while
the SP-BSP combine also got 42.19 —almost the same. With Mayawati winning 22.23
per cent of the votes even in 2017, and the SP 28.32 per cent, together they
polled over half of the total votes. If the Congress also joins the alliance,
the combined vote share will be more than that of the BJP’s. There is a divided
opinion in the Congress about joining the alliance. This is in contrast to 2017
when the party in one voice favoured a tie-up with the SP. One section feels
that making the contest triangular will for sure hurt the BJP. The SP-BSP
alliance might have a strategic understanding with the Congress to help each
other.
Where
does that leave the BJP? Experts say that it means the alliance might pick up
about 50 seats. Then BJP and Congress would be left with 30 seats. Congress
could pick up two seats — that of the Gandhis — and perhaps one or two more.
The BJP can at best hope to get only 24 or 25. In the Hindi heartland after the
recent loss of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh it might lose another
30 seats. In the other states it might shed 20 seats. So the expectation is
that the BJP could lose as many as 100 and they would have to make up the gap
from other regions to reach the 282 they won in 2014.
How
much can they make up in West Bengal, South and Odisha? Moreover, the BJP does
not have any big alliance partners. The Telugu Desam has quit. The Shiv Sena is
threatening to quit. The PDP has left and the Akali Dal is disgruntled.
The
AGP is the latest ally to quit the alliance in Assam. The BJP-led Assam
government is already facing allround attacks for the Citizenship Bill. The
problems for the BJP in the north-eastern state, have increased. About 19
smaller parties have left the NDA since 2014. However, the BJP does not agree
with this analysis, as they believe that people will vote for Modi. The party
hopes with its strong leadership, effective communication, a disciplined
organisation, unlimited funds as well as a divided opposition it can come back.
However,
you can see a sense of worry in the party. The party chief Amit Shah is
subdued. The top leadership is already on a course correction and thinking of a
new narrative in its forthcoming National Council meeting next week. But Modi
can still spring surprises. One week is
said to be long in politics and three months are quite long for any prediction. One thing is that the BJP will emerge as the
single largest party. (IPA Service)
The post SP-BSP Arithmatic In Uttar Pradesh Is A Winning Deal appeared first on Newspack by India Press Agency.
