Final phase of UP polls: Attention shifts to Modi fort Varanasi
LAST MILE SP and ally Congress besides BSP have focused on this phase in a bid to pull the carpet from under Modi’s feet in pivotal city
The seventh and final phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday covers 40 assembly seats across seven districts but the focus is on PM Narendra Modi’s ‘home turf’ Varanasi.
The BJP went all out to campaign in these districts, the intensity higher in seven assembly segments of Varanasi, which Modi represents. The PM camped here for three days, ending his campaign with a roadshow in the Rohaniya constituency on Monday.
The BJP is aware that Modi’s popularity would be measured by how the party performs in Varanasi and six other LS seats under Phase 7. The party had swept these seats in the 2014 parliamentary polls.
But BJP could manage only four of the 40 assembly seats in this phase. Scoring the most here has thus become an issue of prestige for the party. It has allied with Apna Dal and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party to gain the support of the backward castes which could be a decisive factor.
Apart from Modi, more than 20 union ministers including Rajnath Singh, whose ancestral village is in Chandauli, and three ministers from region – Manoj Kumar Sinha, Mahendra Nath Pandey and Anupriya Patel – have concentrated on the final phase rivals – the ruling Samajwadi Party and ally Congress besides Bahujan Samaj Party – who have focussed attention on this phase in a bid to pull the carpet from under Modi’s feet. Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is facing the stiffest challenge as his party SP won 24 seats in 2012.
He addressed about 25 public meetings in the seven poll-bound districts besides holding a joint
roadshow with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi.
Lok Sabha member Dimple Yadav, the chief minister’s wife, pitched in for her husband and the SP-Congress alliance by advising Modi to let his work, not mann (mind), do the talking. Her attack evoked a response from textile minister Smriti Irani.
The final phase will also be a test for Congress, which is keen on regaining lost ground in the south-eastern region of UP with
SP’s support. Rahul Gandhi had several rallies in the region that used to be a Congress stronghold. The Congress, which won only three seats in the region in 2012, has fielded candidates in 10 seats.
BSP chief Mayawati, on the other hand, is relying on the Dalit-Muslim combination and alliance with Quami Ekta Dal to stage a comeback. The BSP won only five seats in the region as SP had eaten into its vote base.