Stung by defeats, BJP to roll out mass connect campaign in UP
LUCKNOW: The setback in assembly elections in five states has put the BJP in the key battleground state of Uttar Pradesh under pressure from both its allies and ‘ideologically friendly’ outfits.
While the Vishva Hindu Parishad saw the defeat as disenchantment of ‘Ram bhakts’, the allies feel their say would increase ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. A BJP lawmaker even held the party’s position on SC/ST Act responsible for alienation of the upper caste in Hindi heartland states. While admitting the results were disappointing, BJP leaders here also felt the anti-incumbency factor might have weighed on its governments.
BJP chief Amit Shah is expected in Lucknow on December 25. Ahead of his visit, the UP BJP top brass is expected to finalise a list of booth-connect and voter connect initiatives.
Now, the party is expected to intensify its campaign in rural UP as it faces the challenge of retaining the 42 per cent vote it secured in the most populous state in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP had subsequently swept the 2017 state polls too but has been losing since.
Starting from chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s Gorakhpur Lok Sabha and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s Phulpur Lok Sabha
I guess allies would get more say though I also believe that it would be unfair to see the verdict as a referendum on the centre
ARVIND SHARMA, Apna Dal
constituencies, the BJP also failed to hold on to Noorpur assembly and Kairana Lok Sabha seats in subsequent by-polls.
Series of rallies, featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi lined up through December and January next year are aimed at ‘mission reconnect.’
The rallies would begin Sunday from Rae Bareli, the Lok Sabha constituency of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, that Modi had visited 19 years back as the party general secretary in 1999.
After Rae Bareli, Modi is scheduled to hold rallies in Prayagraj on Sunday followed by one in Ghazipur on December 29 for which the BJP cadres have been tasked with getting Rajbhars from 14 districts in eastern UP.
The move has angered BJP’s UP ally, the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), which sees Modi’s rally as a plan to cut into SBSP’s support base. “It’s a defeat of arrogance,” said SBSP general secretary Shashi Pratap Singh adding they would push the government for implementation of the quota within quota report of the Social Justice Committee and its leaders.
Arvind Sharma of Apna Dal (S), BJP’s other ally in UP, felt the defeat was like a wake-up call for the BJP. “I guess allies would get more say though I also believe that it would be unfair to see the verdict as a referendum on the centre,” Sharma said.
From within the BJP too, questions were being raised over the party’s handling of issues like the SC/ST Act, a move that BJP lawmaker Surendra Singh said angered the upper castes and OBCs.
“Nothing against dalits but the SC/ST Act did play a part in BJP’s losses. I think the party can’t afford to alienate the upper castes,” Singh said.
“The fact that BSP could play kingmaker in Rajasthan or in Madhya Pradesh is another cause of concern. It means that despite us attempting to connect with Dalits through the SC/ST Act, Mayawati has grown stronger,” a BJP leader requesting anonymity told HT.
Interestingly, the Vishva Hindu Parishad saw BJP’s defeat as a result of party dilly dallying on the temple front. “Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are states which has had a deep association with efforts to ensure a grand temple for Lord Ram. It’s time and indication to honor people’s wish,” said VHP’s Purushottam Narain Singh.