Alliance banks on Akhilesh to counter Modi-Yogi in east UP

LUCKNOW :Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav’s decision to contest on the Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat is a tactical move by the alliance to regain lost ground in east UP and counter the ‘ModiYogi magic’, political observers and alliance insiders say.

The BJP had virtually demolished the opposition challenge in the 2014 election, winning 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The BJP ally Apna Dal won two seats.

Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh Yadav countered the saffron wave by winning the Azamgarh seat. But, the BJP bagged the remaining seats in east UP.

The alliance hopes Akhilesh will not only repeat his father’s feat by retaining the Azamagrh seat, but also spearhead the alliance fight to wrest seats from the BJP.

East UP has been a traditional stronghold of the BSP-SP in the pasty. The BSP and the SP had won 20 out of the 31 seats in the region in 2009 despite contesting separately. The BJP was able to bag merely four seats in the region. The Congress won seven seats.

The scenario changed completely in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Riding on the Modi wave, the BJP swept the region, defeating the BSP and SP in its traditional strongholds, including Allahabad, Ballia, Deoria, Jaunpur, Lalganj, Ambedkar Nagar and Salempur. The only solace for the SP was that it wrested the Azamgarh seat from the BJP.

Initially, there was speculation that Akhilesh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati will focus on the election campaign instead of contesting. Later, strategists of both the parties decided to field Akhilesh from Azamagarh. But Mayawati opted out as she has to manage her party’s election campaign in around a dozen states including UP.

In the 2017 assembly election, the BSP and the SP were able to defend the Azamgarh fort though the BJP wave swept the rest of the state.

The SP won three (Gopalpur, Azamgarh and Mehnagar) out of five assembly seats and the BSP bagged the Sagri and Mubarakpur seats in Azamgarh.

The SP won the Atrauliya and Nizamabad assembly seats in Lalganj (SC).

The BSP bagged Didarganj and Lalganj seat. Phoolpur Pawai was the BJP’s only victory there.

A BSP leader, who did not wish to be named, said, in the 2017 assembly election while the BSP secured victory on the maximum number of seats in its stronghold Ambedkar Nagar, the SP also maintained its hold over its fort Azamgarh.

With their combined strength, the alliance plans not only to maintain its hold in Azamgarh and Lalganj (SC) but also regain lost ground.

AK Mishra, a political observer, said, Azamgarh is sandwiched between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency Varanasi and Gorakhpur, the stronghold of Yogi Adityanath. By fielding Akhilesh, the alliance plans to counter the saffron brigade.

“The alliance is working to stop the BJP from repeating its 2014 LS election feat. Mayawati and Akhilesh are big faces of the alliance. By fielding Akhilesh in east UP, the alliance wishes to send a message to its cadre that is ready to take on BJP stalwarts, including the prime minister and the chief minister,” he said.

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