YOGI SAYS BJP NOT AGAINST MUSLIMS; PASWAN SLAMS SP, BSP

LUCKNOW : Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday sought to allay Muslims’ concerns about the BJP. They also reached out to Dalits and OBCs, the two influential caste groups the BJP is seeking to woo ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls. They were speaking at a function to mark the 69th birth anniversary of Sone Lal Patel, founder of Apna Dal, an alliance partner in the ruling NDA. Paswan of Lok Janshakti Party targeted the SP and the BSP, the two regional players likely to team up against the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

LUCKNOW: After attending the founder’s day celebrations of Apna Dal, an ally of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, chief minister Yogi Adityanath is likely to attend a ‘dalit sammelan’ being planned by the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in Lucknow next month.

LJP is headed by union minister Ramvilas Paswan, a dalit leader from Bihar whom the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning to rope in to counter the growing bonhomie between former arch rivals Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

According to Paswan, the ‘dalit sammelan’ will be used to expose the BSP leadership.

Even during the Apna Dal founder’s day function in Lucknow on Monday, Paswan trained guns on BSP president Mayawati accusing her of being opportunist and exploiting dalits. “We and our party’s face Ram Vilas Paswan will definitely help the BJP in UP,” said LJP’s state in-charge Kali Shankar Pandey.

According to BJP leaders, the party is chalking out a two-fold plan to counter the likely SP-BSP alliance. While the party would step up attacks on SP-BSP through its OBC and dalit allies in the state, it would also keep an eye on the resentment in SP and BSP ranks that might crop up once tickets are finalised, they added. A BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, said: “It’s clear that once tickets are finalised there will be many leaders in SP and BSP who would turn rebels. They will then come in handy for the party. ”However, the BJP has its own share of worries including a recalcitrant ally in UP and some rebels in its own ranks like party’s dalit MP from Bahraich Savitri Bai Phule who has been talking of a conspiracy to end reservation for dalits and backwards.The BJP has sought to counter this by getting dalit leaders from its parties and outside to reaffirm the Modi government’s commitment to reservation.

The BJP is also in talks with union minister Ramdas Athavale, a dalit leader and president of the Republican Party of India (Athavale) to play a more active role in countering BSP’s dalit outreach plans.

Athavale was in Allahabad on June 29 and is expected to tour UP more frequently as the 2019 Lok Sabha polls draw closer.

The BJP leader said the party also wanted the warring factions of Apna Dal, one led by union minister Anupriya Patel and the other by her mother Krishna Patel, to bury their differences and unite. He said while Anupriya Patel was firmly with the BJP, the party was skepctical about the opposition attempts to woo Anupriya’s mother.

The party is also unsure about the approach of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), its other OBC ally in UP.

SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, a cabinet minister in the Yogi government, has been targeting the BJP leadership in the state. At the last moment, Rajbhar decided not to attend the Apna Dal programme organised by Krishna Patel in Varanasi, saving some embarrassment for the government. On Monday, Adityanath who has been silent on his party’s recalcitrant ally praised Apna Dal for following the coalition dharma. “Apna Dal has showed how one should function in a coalition,” Adityanath said. In response, Anupriya assured Adityanath of her party’s support. BJP chief Amit Shah who had sewn pacts with OBC dominated players Apna Dal and SBSP in UP will be on a two-day visit to the state from Wednesday.