Even as the Samajwadi Party and Congress are looking to stitch an alliance to avoid division of Muslim votes, it is the Brahmins who hold the key in UP Assembly poll which starts from February 11.
“This is a proven record that no party can win elections on the basis of its core votes. It needs support of other sections of the society. The last two Assembly poll have proved that whoever the upper castes have supported, has come to power. And among this upper caste Brahmins hold the key,” SP Pandey of lucknow-based Govind Ballabh Institute of Studies in Rural Development said on Wednesday.
And Pandey is not off the mark. In 2007 Assembly poll, when the BSP came to power it had 41 Brahmin MlAs in its rank and in 2012, when Akhilesh became the Chief Minister, the ruling Samajwadi Party had 21 Brahmin MlAs. The same year BSP had only 10 Brahmins.
The two national parties-BJP and Congress, which have thrived on support from Brahmins, had dwindling support of upper castes. In 1993, the BJP had 17 Brahmin MlAs, in 1996, this number was 14 and it came down to 8 in 2002. In 2007 elections, the BJP had 3 Brahmin MlAs and in last Assembly, the party had six Brahmin legislators.
The situation in Congress is no different. In the last over two decades, the maximum number of Brahmin MlAs in the party wass 5 in 1993 which dipped to 4 in 1996 while in 2002 Pramod Tiwari, the then leader of Congress legislature Party, was the lone Brahmin face in Congress.