Presidential hopeful Kumar gets boost

Arch-rivals BSP and SP close ranks to support opposition-backed candidate

The coming together of arch-rivals BSP and SP to support the candidature of Meira Kumar as president could be a crucial step towards further consolidating anti-BJP forces in Uttar Pradesh, say political observers.

Struggling to regain lost ground after the near washout in the recent assembly elections, with the BJP making deep inroads into their respective bastions, the SP and the BSP have found in the presidential election another opportunity to come on the same page.

Opposition message

Though their value of votes is unlikely to make either NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind win or bolster Kumar’s prospects, their joint support for the opposition-backed candidate will drive home the message that forces opposed to the saffron party are coming together.

This, political observers feel, is likely to pave the way for other like-minded parties to join hands ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, for which the BJP hopes to bag all 80 seats in the state, seven more than it scored in 2014, along with its allies.

“This shows that the opposition is forced to come together as they are realising their strength is in unity. this is also preparation for 2019,” said RJD’s state unit president Ashok Singh.

“There is also pressure from the public who have started saying that all anti-BJP parties should come together on one platform,” he added.

Only too aware of the drubbing they faced and the acute necessity for drastic steps to counter the saffron surge, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati have already decided to share a platform at a rally organised by the Lalu Prasad-led RJD in Patna on August 27. The thaw between the two could also prompt a repeat of a Bihar-like experiment in UP politics and subsequently at the national level with all parties opposed to the BJP aligning on one agenda.