Congress upsets SP-BSP-RLD caste maths further in UP

Nagina/Amroha/Moradabad: Ahead of the second phase of elections in western UP, the SP-BSPRLD alliance seems to be struggling and the Congress is making it worse by splitting the opposition votes. Of the eight seats in the state that will go to the polls in phase two of the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress is impacting the gathbandhan in key constituencies including Nagina and Moradabad.

NAGINA
In the Muslim-dominated Nagina, a reserved constituency, 21% SCs play a big role in deciding the fate of parties. While the BJP won the seat in 2014, incumbent MP Yashwant Singh is facing resistance from the BSP candidate Girish Chandra, who finished third the last elections. With the seat being a Samajwadi Party stronghold since 2009 and with the SP reclaiming the Noorpur Assembly seat in the 2018 bypolls and two other seats in the 2017 elections, Chandra sees himself as a strong contender with the backing of Muslims and Dalits.


The Congress, however, appears to be playing spoil sport by fielding former BSP MLA Omwati Jatav who might eat into the BSP’s Dalitvote share. “The Dalit vote is extremely crucial to a win on this seat, but the Congress will eat into our votes and benefit the BJP,” a BSP party functionary told ET.

AMROHA
In neighbouring Amroha, gathbandhan’s candidate, Kunwar Danish Ali, is taking on BJP MP Kanwar Singh Tanwar in a neck-and -neck battle. The Congress has fielded a little known Jat candidate.

A seat with a big Muslim population, the Congress had earlier fielded its senior leader Rashid Alvi but later replaced him with Sachin Choudhary, a Jat. The decision was said to be taken to prevent splitting of Muslim votes to help Ali, who is a JDS leader.

While the SP-Congress ‘understanding’ on Muslim vote is clearly visible, SP’s ‘red cap’ supporters in Mayawati’s rally in Amroha on April 15 were conspicuous by their absence.

MORADABAD
If Samajwadi party was absent from Mayawati’s rally in Amroha, Akhilesh Yadav’s rally held in Moradabad struggled to garner support from BSP and RLD workers on Monday. Party leaders said that very few BSP supporters turned up for the event and the RLD which is on a weaker foot in western UP was totally absent.

The Congress, meanwhile, is seen as a spoiler again as it has fielded celebrity poet Imran Pratapgarhi.

Unlike in Amroha, where it worked towards consolidating muslim votes, the party seems to be eating into the crucial muslim vote of SP candidate St Hasan. SP functionaries believe that Pratapgarhi will not win he might split Muslim votes, benefitting the BJP.