Did Maya break alliance in haste? Numbers suggest so

WHILE THE by-poll outcome may not give any indication about the general mood of the masses, it is being considered as a major setback to the main opposition parties

LUCKNOW::When BSP chief Mayawati analysis the result of by-election to Hamirpur assembly seat, which BJP candidate Yuvraj Singh won on Friday, she is likely to realise that her decision to end the alliance with the Samajwadi Party may have been taken in a hurry.

It was only about 10 days after 2019 the Lok Sabha election results that gave BJP a landslide victory, she had first indicated about ending the alliance citing failure of transfer of SP’s vote to the SP-BSP alliance candidates in the general elections.

BJP candidate won the Hamirpur assembly by-election defeating Samajwadi Party candidate Manoj Kumar Prajapati by a margin of about 17800 votes on Friday.

If the votes secured by BSP candidate Naushad Ali (28798 votes) and the SP’s candidate Prajapati (56542 votes) are counted together their total exceeds the overall votes secured by the BJP candidate there.

The by-election to Hamirpur assembly seat was caused by disqualification of the BJP candidate Ashok Kumar Singh Chandel.

The BJP has been able to retain the seat and send a message to voters in 11 assembly constituencies

where by-poll is due on October 21.

While the by-poll outcome may not give any indication about the general mood of the masses, it is being considered as a major setback to the main opposition parties, which include the SP, the BSP and the Congress.

All eyes will now be set on outcome of by-election to 11 assembly seats to ascertain whether the arithmetic that brought the SP-BSP alliance together has the potential of working again. Both the SP and BSP will have to rework on their strategy while the Congress will also have devise new ways to strike a chord with the voters as the party’s candidate secured only 16097 votes in Hamirpur.

The BJP obviously now has advantage of facing a completely divided opposition in the forthcoming by-election to 11 assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh.

So, will the SP and the BSP have a rethink on their strategy? The SP and the BSP so far have not given any indications about coming closer again.

Hamirpur by-poll result, however, brings to focus Mayawati’s observations made on June 4, 2019 hinting that the BSP’s parting of ways with the SP did not mean end of relationship. She was quoted saying, “Ever since the SP-BSP coalition took place, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav have given me a lot of respect. I also forgot all our differences in the interest of the nation and gave them respect. Our relation isn’t only for politics, it will continue forever.” Her observations only underline that politics is game of all possibilities.