Nikay Chunav 2023: BJP can win in all-round contest in western Uttar Pradesh

Everything is not happening according to the wish of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in the Uttar Pradesh municipal elections. There is a head-to-head fight in the party over ticket distribution, while BSP supremo Mayawati has fielded a large number of Muslim candidates, increasing the apprehension that the Muslim vote bank will be eroded due to the face-to-face contest between SP-BSP Muslim candidates on many seats. Scattering can be seen. It is not limited to this. A wall is also visible between the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance. The RLD, which was recently derecognised by the Election Commission, is also not ready to budge in front of its alliance partner. Let us tell you that in the assembly elections in 2022, when the SP-RLD alliance was formed. Then SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and RLD president Jayant Chaudhary campaigned fiercely, especially in western UP, and along with it it was announced that this alliance would run together in the municipal elections as well, but RLD, which has a good hold in western UP, When the Samajwadi defied the seat distribution, the RLD fielded its candidates against the Samajwadi Party, due to which the contest on many seats in western UP became all-round, but after the displeasure of Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Chaudhary Jayant Singh SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has withdrawn his candidates from some seats in the alliance.

In fact, the atmosphere of tug-of-war between SP-RLD came to the fore when SP fielded its candidates on the seats dominated by RLD. As a result, the SP declared Swati Veera as its candidate for Bijnor municipality president, while RLD filed a nomination declaring Rukhsana Parveen as its candidate from here. Similarly, in Bijnor district itself, the same situation had arisen in six seats for the post of president including Bijnor Nagar Palika Parishad – Haldaur, Nehtaur, Noorpur, Dhampur and Chandpur. On the other hand, the Rashtriya Lok Dal had presented its claim on Barot seat in its political bastion Baghpat district municipality, but when the SP did not give it the seat, it fielded its candidate parallel to the SP. On the other hand, SP has declared Randhir Pradhan as the candidate for Barot seat in Baghpat district. There is election in the second phase here and Barot is considered to be a stronghold of RLD. RLD was preparing to field its candidate on this seat when SP played the game. The same happened in Khekra municipality of the same district. Rajni Dhama has been declared as the candidate from RLD for the post of president here while Sangeeta Dhama has been declared as the candidate of SP. Similarly, RLD candidate Reshma first filed nomination papers for the post of president of Nagar Panchayat Ambehta Peer in Saharanpur, and on the last day, SP’s Ishrat Jahan also filed nomination papers. Apart from this, uproar was seen in many other districts regarding the distribution of councilor and member seats in various districts. The SP fielded Nazmul Hasan from Kandhla Municipality of Shamli and Mirza Faisal Baig from RLD. This ruckus between SP-RLD was taking place in the districts of western UP. The presence of RLD is more in western UP. This is the reason why RLD candidates are talking about declaring their candidates in the bodies of Western UP. RLD believes that SP should not have declared its candidate here. However, contrary to this, SP was saying that where RLD is strong, SP will also fight there so that both can be benefited. Due to the obstinate attitude of the SP, a rift started appearing in the alliance. With the help of this alliance, RLD got eight seats in Western UP in the assembly elections 2022, which later changed to nine due to the by-elections. Coming to Meerut, the SP has declared its MLA Atul Pradhan’s wife Seema Pradhan as its candidate for the post of mayor, while RLD has also announced to field its candidate from here.

However, considering the attitude of RLD leader Chaudhary Jayant Singh, Samajwadi Party has now withdrawn its candidates from some seats, SP has withdrawn its candidates from Barot and Baghpat Municipal Council. Efforts are being made to coordinate on other seats as well, but the rift between the two parties has not reduced much. On the one hand, RLD is creating trouble for the Samajwadi Party, on the other hand, the Muslim faces of SP and BSP are clashing with each other in four seats in western UP, where minority voters are dominant. In Aligarh, the BSP has bet on Salman Sahid, who came from the SP. In such a situation, due to the clash of both, there can be a danger of division of votes, which can benefit the BJP. Last time in Moradabad, BJP got the advantage of having Muslim candidates from both SP and Congress. In Firozabad too, the claim of a strong Muslim face from AIMIM spoiled the SP’s game. In the midst of the SP-BSP fight, the Saharanpur seat will also test the influence of two local leaders there. The BSP has nominated Imran Masood’s sister-in-law from here. Imran Masood, who came to SP from Congress before the 2022 assembly elections, neither got the position nor the ticket. Local MLA Ashu Malik had an important role in keeping him sidelined in SP. Imran Masood has now joined BSP. On the other hand, SP has nominated Ashu Malik’s brother Noor Hasan Malik as its mayor candidate from Saharanpur. Last time BSP lost Saharanpur seat to BJP by just 10,000 votes. In such a situation, this war of supremacy between the two Muslim faces there and their leaders will be interesting. While being in the SP, Imran and Ashu had clashed with each other in the by-election of the District Panchayat member, in which Ashu Malik was heavily involved. Once again both are face to face. Overall, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who has high hopes for the civic elections, is stuck between the displeasure of his ally Rashtriya Lok Dal and the pro-Muslim politics of BSP supremo Mayawati.

-Ajay Kumar