SP, BSP missing in action
Even as Uttar Pradesh and several other parts of the country are in turmoil over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens, two major regional players, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, seem to be missing in action.
Far from taking a firm stand on both issues and taking to streets to register protest, the stir by the two parties has been confined to social media and Twitter.
“Both parties seem to be in limbo ever since they parted company after the May, 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Samajwadi Party announced state-wide demonstrations at district headquarters but it was more for media consumption than reaching out to people they claim to represent,” said a political analyst.
The inaction of the SP and the BSP has left the Congress to try and fend off the Bharatiya Janata Party’s attacks, in which the grand old party appears to be failing miserably due to discord between its senior leaders and a weak organisational base in UP.
Though the Congress has managed to occupy political centre stage at the national level in spearheading the agitation in Delhi, its presence in Uttar Pradesh has so far been negligible.
A cleric associated with an influential Islamic seminary said that Muslims of the state would most likely align with the Congress in the 2022 Assembly elections as only Congress could fight the BJP and oppose the CAA and the NRC.
“With the Babri masjid issue settled, the two regional parties are left with no emotive issues to reach out to Muslims and the NRC is beyond their territorial capability as they are confined to one state while the battle against the CAA and the NRC is going to be a long one and only the Congress is competent to lead the battle,” the cleric opined.
The cleric further pointed out, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other BJP leaders are constantly targeting the Congress, which has helped the latter in gaining centre stage once again.”
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday reiterated that his party was against the CAA and would continue to oppose the legislation.
He asked party cadres to go to the people and explain them the stand of the party against the CAA and persuade them to maintain peace and harmony.