With MY (Muslims & Yadavs) electorate in domination, Azamgarh Parliamentary constituency is the seat of prestige for Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav who could face a serious challenge from none other than his old soldier and sitting MP Ramakant Yadav on whom the BJP has again shown its trust.
But Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) nominee Shah Alam alias Guddu Zamali is making all efforts to make contest triangular on this lok Sabha seat which has become a talking point in eastern belt of UP after Varanasi from where BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is in the fray. Congress candidate Arvind Jaiswal seems to be out from the race to enter the Parliament from this constituency.
Apart from Mainpuri, the SP chief decided to contest election from here to repulse a perceived tidal wave of support for Narendra Modi who is contesting election on Varanasi lok Sabha seat besides Vadodara in Gujarat.
Modi decided to field himself from Varanasi with an eye to make polarisation of Hindu votes in the favour of the BJP so Mulayam came to Azamgarh with an eye to make polarisation of Muslim votes, particularly in 13 constituencies of three zones — Varanasi, Mirzapur and Azamgarh where the saffron brigade has nothing to lose more as it has just two seats — Varanasi and Azamgarh. Of total 13 constituencies, seven are with the SP whereas four with the BSP.
“There is no doubt that Mulayam, in the current situation, is taking lead and the locals have also much expectation from him,” said a senior income tax advocate, Umesh Kumar Srivastava adding that but at the same time, the sitting BJP MP Ramakant Yadav and BSP MlA from Mubarakpur, Shah Alam are also in the talk among locals.
The Muslims and Yadavs have domination in this constituency with 25 and 20 per cent respectively and sitting MP Ramakant Yadav has his influence among Yadavs, particularly Gwala community, from which he belongs to. This is the reason why he represented this constituency five times — two times as SP candidate (in 1996 & 1999) and two times as BSP candidate (in 1998 & 2004) — and when he contested the election as a BJP candidate in 2009, he registered his first victory for saffron brigade in the strong hold of the SP, which Mulayam is emotionally attached to. He has still his influence in Gwala community which has in sizable number in this constituency, said political pundits.
“The BSP MlA, Guddu Zamali gained popularity not only among Muslims but also among Hindus as he has been available every time people needed him. Moreover, he also supported the people financially and had announced to spend his salary for the benefit of people of his constituency. A major section of Muslims and Hindus seems to be in his favor at this juncture,” said an MBA graduate with job in private company adding that the votes of BSP cadre (about 30 per cent Dalit votes) are also in his favor. Moreover, the forward class seems to be annoyed with Mulayam, hence, they may not vote for Mulayam. This class seems to be in favor of the BSP nominee having assumption that it is Guddu Zamali and not Ramakant Yadav who could give a tough contest to Mulayam.
“The locals are also in view that if the BJP and the Congress fail to get majority to form Government and the Third Front is in position to form the Government, Mulayam could become the next PM and this could go in favor to Mulayam,” observed a local retired Government officer OP Sinha.
Azamgarh, which goes to polls on May 12, could witness a triangular contest among the SP, BSP and BJP.