The Assembly poll fight in Uttar Pradesh seems poised to go down to the wire

For the first time in many years, the BJP seems to be on the back foot at the time of a crucial election. Despite all the odds, it put up a brave show in the Bengal elections and never went on the back foot. But the upcoming UP election is proving difficult. Contrary to expectations, Adityanath will contest from Gorakhpur and not from the temple town of Ayodhya, or Mathura. This is the first time he will contest Assembly polls. His Deputy CM, Keshav Prasad Maurya, would contest from Sirathu in Prayagraj. The resignation of influential Swami Prasad Maurya and two other OBC Ministers, Dara Singh Chauhan and Dharam Singh Saini, along with some MLAs has put a spanner in its works. On the one hand, it stands to lose sizeable OBC vote which is crucial for its victory and, on the other, other leaders may follow suit sensing the mood of people. It may be good news for the Akhilesh Yadav camp but, as they say, there’s many a slip between the cup and the lip. The UP election is still away and in such a touch-and-go scenario, the last few days are crucial in swaying the voters.

Moreover, the BJP is no pushover and will do everything to control the damage. It has already stopped commenting about the leaders who left its fold. It has already got into an alliance with the Nishad Party and might give them 15-odd seats but that would send a message to other smaller parties. Moreover, the Samajwadi Party has to bank heavily on alliances, the more the merrier, but Akhilesh Yadav is either not convincing enough or overconfident to ignore other groups. Though an alliance with Om Prakash Rajbhar has materialised, it ominously snapped ties with Chandrashekhar Azad of Aza

The Assembly poll fight in Uttar Pradesh seems poised to go down to the wire

For the first time in many years, the BJP seems to be on the back foot at the time of a crucial election. Despite all the odds, it put up a brave show in the Bengal elections and never went on the back foot. But the upcoming UP election is proving difficult. Contrary to expectations, Adityanath will contest from Gorakhpur and not from the temple town of Ayodhya, or Mathura. This is the first time he will contest Assembly polls. His Deputy CM, Keshav Prasad Maurya, would contest from Sirathu in Prayagraj. The resignation of influential Swami Prasad Maurya and two other OBC Ministers, Dara Singh Chauhan and Dharam Singh Saini, along with some MLAs has put a spanner in its works. On the one hand, it stands to lose sizeable OBC vote which is crucial for its victory and, on the other, other leaders may follow suit sensing the mood of people. It may be good news for the Akhilesh Yadav camp but, as they say, there’s many a slip between the cup and the lip. The UP election is still away and in such a touch-and-go scenario, the last few days are crucial in swaying the voters.

Moreover, the BJP is no pushover and will do everything to control the damage. It has already stopped commenting about the leaders who left its fold. It has already got into an alliance with the Nishad Party and might give them 15-odd seats but that would send a message to other smaller parties. Moreover, the Samajwadi Party has to bank heavily on alliances, the more the merrier, but Akhilesh Yadav is either not convincing enough or overconfident to ignore other groups. Though an alliance with Om Prakash Rajbhar has materialised, it ominously snapped ties with Chandrashekhar Azad of Azad Samaj Party. This might cost it Dalit votes which are almost one-fourth of the total votes. The Opposition camp is still as hopelessly fragmented as the last time. The alliance with the BSP and the Congress is a far cry. Even the post-electoral alliance might be difficult if it comes to that. Last but not the least, the effect of Ram Temple and the Prime Minister’s charisma cannot be ignored which might help BJP achieve the magic figure of 202. Nothing, of course, can be said till voting ends on February 14, the day BJP hates the most.

d Samaj Party. This might cost it Dalit votes which are almost one-fourth of the total votes. The Opposition camp is still as hopelessly fragmented as the last time. The alliance with the BSP and the Congress is a far cry. Even the post-electoral alliance might be difficult if it comes to that. Last but not the least, the effect of Ram Temple and the Prime Minister’s charisma cannot be ignored which might help BJP achieve the magic figure of 202. Nothing, of course, can be said till voting ends on February 14, the day BJP hates the most.