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Ghosi: Big test of BJP’s ally power as Rajbhar bats to ensure son’s win
The mood of the Rajbhar voters here can impact the election arithmetic in some nearby constituencies as well.
Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief and Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar is playing with a straight bat on the tricky poll pitch of Ghosi for his son Arvind Rajbhar, who is in a tough contest against the Samajwadi Party’s Rajiv Rai.
Despite the tough electoral challenge, the SBSP has its own importance. It is one of the allies on which the BJP is banking heavily to deliver in the last lap of the election on 13 seats of east U.P. In this ally experiment, Ghosi has emerged as the nerve centre.
It remains to be seen whether winning OP Rajbhar back to its side months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will stand the BJP in good stead.
The SBSP leader was an ally of the Samajwadi Party in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
It is also a key question whether all the controversial statements made by him back then in Mau, Ghazipur and the rest of the region against chief minister Yogi Adityanath and upper castes have faded from public memory now.
Nonetheless, he remains an important poll player in Ghosi as the Rajbhar caste group has a considerable base here and the adjoining regions. They comprise around 1.60 lakh voters in the Ghosi Lok Sabha seat. At the same time, 3.50 lakh Dalits and 3 lakh Muslim voters are also a deciding factor.
The presence of the BSP’s two-time former MP Balkrishna Chauhan has made the election in Ghosi a triangular contest and a caste battle among Bhumihars and Rajbhars with the Chauhans potentially playing spoilsport for both the SBSP and the SP. Some are of the view that most of the 1.50 lakh Chauhan voters are rallying around Balkrishna Chauhan.
“The Chauhan caste group considered to be the BJP’s vote bank has sided with the BSP candidate Balkrishna Chauhan. This will further dent the winning prospects of the NDA alliance candidate,” said a BSP leader of Mau.
As for the Bhumihars, they are in a dilemma whether to support Rajiv Rai of the Samajwadi Party or the SBSP.
They feel that siding with Rai would mean going against Uttar Pradesh minister and BJP leader AK Sharma, who belongs to Mau district and comes from the Bhumihar community.
“AK Sharma has done a lot for Mau. For everyone in this town, he is a one-stop solution for all problems,” said a Bhumihar leader from Mau.
“The Bhumihar community is in a fix. Voting for the Samajwadi Party candidate would mean going against the minister,” he added.
Om Prakash Rajbhar’s problems have also been compounded by the exit of an old associate Mahendra Rajbhar, who got 88,095 votes in 2017 assembly poll as an SBSP candidate from Mau (Sadar). He is now with the Samajwadi Party.
“Om Prakash Rajbhar is a BJP ally in this election. But he had contested the 2022 assembly poll as a Samajwadi Party partner. Then, he had given several controversial statements against the chief minister and upper castes. People here have not forgotten all that,” Amit Tripathi said, sipping tea at Mau’s Phagu tea stall, a famous hangout for political discourse.
The Mau (Sadar) assembly segment, which Mukhtar Ansari had represented five times in a row from 1996 to 2017, lies at the heart of the Ghosi Lok Sabha constituency.
When Mukhtar opted out of the 2022 assembly polls, his elder son Abbas Ansari won the seat as an SBSP candidate.
Despite being counted among backward districts of the state, development is not an issue in Mau as the contest is on caste lines.
“Mukhtar Ansari’s death might be an issue among a section of the community in Ghosi Lok Sabha but not for others,” added Tripathi.
“A lot of development has taken place not only in Mau but in the entire Ghosi Lok Sabha. But no one will vote on this issue. The election in Ghosi has centred around caste and not development̤,” Tripathi said.
Ram Niwas Chaurasiya, betel shop owner at Maunath Bhanjan crossing, Munipurva, is satisfied with the improved law and order scenario under the Yogi Adityanath government.
“The law and order situation in Mau has improved a lot. Now, there is no fear of criminals,” he said.
