Relief for BJP, headache for SP

The recent resignations of several prominent Other Backward Classes (OBC) leaders from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have not only dealt a serious blow to ‘Hinduism politics’ in Uttar Pradesh, but also inspired socialist leaders. The opposition coalition led by the Party (SP). The enthusiasm in the opposition is not without reason, as the BJP has never seen such massive resignations in recent times, that too in a state where it has been in power with a thumping majority. All those who resigned described the ‘Hindutva politics’ as against the interests of Dalits and Backward Classes. The BJP was put on a defensive position. But the formation of two ‘Bahujan Fronts’ seems to have brought relief to the party. the first front, called the partnership Parivartan Morcha was formed by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi, Jan Adhikar Party President Babu Singh Kushwaha and Bharat Mukti Morcha leader Vaman Meshram. Mr. Kushwaha was expelled from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 2011 and was also an accused in the National Rural Health Mission scam. The second front, the Social Parivartan Morcha, was formed by Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, MPs Rajkumar Saini and Baburam Pal and others and consisted of 35 groups.

Earlier, after talks with Akhilesh Yadav failed, Mr Azad accused the SP president of insulting him and Dalits by not giving them a respectable number of seats. He then announced that he would contest against the Chief Minister from Gorakhpur. This came as a surprise to the SP as it was already planning to field one of its local leaders against the chief minister in Gorakhpur and wanted the support of most of the opposition parties. It is learned that Mr. Azad did not consult any opposition party regarding his candidature from Gorakhpur and in the meantime, formed a new front.

political implications

Barring the AIMIM, the two new fronts cannot be ignored, even if they do not involve any established party. The leaders involved in these fronts have their own caste base and hence will make a clear impact. Before discussing their impact, let us first understand some points about them. First, it is not a mere coincidence that these fronts were announced only after the resignation of OBC leaders. Second, the leaders of these fronts have justified their actions by citing the widespread ‘nepotism’ prevalent in traditional opposition parties (SP, BSP and Rashtriya Lok Dal), which forced them to seek ‘new avenues’ . Third, the support base of the leaders of these fronts was never tested. These parties have not contested all the seats in UP before. Unlike leaders like Swami Prasad Maurya, who resigned from the BJP due to pressure from their social base, the leaders of these two fronts cannot even claim that their supporters forced them into the decision to form a separate front. The truth is that most of his supporters wanted him to contest the elections by joining the big anti-BJP fronts. When leaders like Mr. Azad and Mr. Kushwaha tried and failed, they distanced themselves from larger opposition alliances against the BJP on the pretext that they were not given enough tickets.

Mr Azad contested Bihar assembly elections in 2020 but this is his debut in UP In a way Mr Azad is like Mr Owaisi, who goes anywhere to contest elections, irrespective of his organization or political base. In Bihar, Azad joined hands with Pappu Yadav’s party. He earned the tag of ‘vote katwa’ (dividing the votes). They simultaneously contested more than 150 seats but did not achieve anything. Will Mr Azad’s new front in UP just be called ‘vote katwa’ or will it get some political success?

As far as the Owaisi-Kushwaha-Meshram front is concerned, there is already speculation about the political equations of these leaders. Mr. Kushwaha was a two-time minister in the Mayawati government, and was also jailed for alleged corruption. Cases related to some of these alleged scams are still pending in the courts. A few years back, he left the BSP and joined the BJP. But there was so much opposition to his joining that he had to leave the party. After this, he wrote a letter to the then BJP President Nitin Gadkari and appealed to him to hold his membership for some time. This shows that he has no ideological differences with the BJP. Similarly, Mr. Saini, who has joined hands with Mr. Azad, was a BJP MP from Kurukshetra for many years. Therefore, it is not without sound grounds that both these fronts are being treated as a ‘political relief’ for the BJP and a ‘headache’ for the SP-led alliance. Whether the voters of UP reject these fronts or offer them some consolation prizes, it remains to be seen.

Urmilesh is a Delhi-based freelance journalist and writer and former executive editor of Rajya Sabha TV. The article was translated from Hindi by Avneesh Kumar, British Academy Newton International Fellow, University of Edinburgh