learning from its Bihar poll reverses, the BJP has “heavily micromanaged” its poll campaign in Uttar Pradesh. This month, it will complet its ‘booth baithaks’ in all 403 Vidhan Sabha seats even as it hopes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clear stand on ‘triple talaq’ may further polarise “new age Muslim women” from the retrogrades in the community, giving a boost to the party’s election prospects in the State.
“Is baar Muslim maa-bahnon ke mann main triple talaq ke karan badlav ayega aur ye hamare favour main hoga,” BJP General Secretary Arun Singh told The Pioneer while discussing the party’s prospects in poll-bound UP.
Singh said the ‘talaq’ issue is troubling Muslim women in the country and they want “liberation” from this practice. He referred to Prime Minister’s strong advocacy for freedom of Muslim women. The BJP general secretary felt Indian Muslim women are not as rigid in their opinion as in other countries. “New Muslim generation decides on its own wisdom,” he said suggesting that the youth in the community was not much affected by vote bank politics.
As the State is fast heading to early 2017 elections, BJP is hoping that its highly-decentralised poll preparations would pay dividends. Taking a leaf out of the Bihar poll debacle, the party has demarcated enough work to each local leader in the State. “So much so that grass-roots leaders have at times been complaining of being over-worked,” said one of the state leaders.
The party would be completing booth-baithaks- primarily meant to attract neutral voters and build communications - in each of the Vidhan Sabha constituencies by the month-end. A kit with party literature and stickers among others is provided to workers and ‘Panna pramukh’ in these baithaks. Around four months ago, the BJP held region-wise booth-baithaks which were attended by all senior leaders including party chief Amit Shah.
From November five, the BJP would embark on four ‘Parivartan yatras’ at Saharanpur, Sonbhadra, Jhansi and Balia, which would be attended by all top leaders of the party including Shah, Rajnath Singh, Kalraj Mishra and others. The PM would address a rally in lucknow on December 24 marking the culmination of the yatras.
While the recent surgical strikes by the Army has given a fillip to BJP's campaign in the state, the division within Samajwadi Party has increased hopes in the party that a faction of non-Yadav OBC votes that at times voted for SP would now sharply consolidate in favour of the BJP.
Asked how he sees the fratricidal war in the SP, Singh maintained that it was a battle for dominance in Yadav Parivar as also for “the distribution of the ill-gotten money”.