E-Paper
Amit Shah, Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati vie for battleground west UP
Elections in Uttar Pradesh begin on February 10 in 58 seats in the western part of the state. The state will vote in seven phases and the results will be out on March 10.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Samajwadi Party (SP)-led alliance and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Thursday intensified their campaigns in the battleground region of western Uttar Pradesh, clashing on farm welfare and communalism in their bid to galvanise support a week before the assembly elections.
While Union home minister Amit Shah cautioned Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary over his party’s tie-up with SP, and appeared to reach out to him, the second time since January 26.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav called upon followers of BR Ambedkar to join his party’s efforts in ousting the BJP to “save democracy. BSP chief Mayawati, however, accused both parties and the Congress of being “anti-Dalit”.
Elections in Uttar Pradesh begin on February 10 in 58 seats in the western part of the state. The state will vote in seven phases and the results will be out on March 10.
The 143 seats in the western part of the state are crucial to determining whether the BJP can retain power or if the SP-led alliance will help continue the state’s recent history of voting out incumbents. The region, which was roiled by farm protests against three central laws that were finally repealed last November, had backed the BJP in the 2014 and 2019 general elections and the 2017 assembly polls. But the SP-RLD alliance, buoyed by the tens of thousands of people who showed up at their mahapanchayats against the farm laws, hopes to reverse the BJP’s gains by leveraging farm ire.
Addressing an event in Bulandshahr district’s Anupshahar constituency, Shah claimed that if SP ‘mistakenly’ won in the state, people facing criminal cases like Azam Khan, Atique Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari would come out of jail.
“In Dibai, Bulandshahr, Azam Khan, Atique Ahmed, Mukhtar Ansari are in jail. But, if you commit the mistake of bringing the SP government to power then they will come out...,” he said.
The Union minister further warned Jayant Chaudhary over his party’s tie-up with SP, saying Yadav does not even listen to his father and uncle.
He does not meet people, does only press conferences and has our Jayant ji by his side. Sarkar warkar to banni nahi hai ye samajh kar chalna… but Jayant Chaudhary thinks if the government is formed, Akhilesh babu would listen to him. Jayant babu, it’s a fallacy. Someone who does not listen to his own father and uncle, how would he listen to you,” Shah added.
Chaudhary had then rebuffed Shah’s offer, saying: “Some big leaders in the country are quite concerned about me...It feels good. This indicates that I am doing well.”
SP national spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi, too, said: “The bond and understanding between the two leaders (Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary) and the two parties are strong...”
Later in the day, Yadav and Chaudhary addressed a joint press conference in Bulandshahr, where they took jibes at chief minister Yogi Adityanath for being “under a lot of pressure” due to the fear of a historic defeat.
“Every youth will defeat the BJP this time as they took away their jobs... A large number of people are joining our caravan. This has increased the anger of the BJP people. The chief minister is using such language which has never been heard before from any person occupying that position,” said Yadav.
Yadav also called upon followers of Ambedkars to join the SP, saying: “Ambedkarwadi (followers of Ambedkar) should come with ‘samajwadis’ (socialists) as we have to save the Constitution and democracy. If these are not saved, just think what will happen to our rights.”
BSP had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the SP.
Meanwhile, at a rally in Ghaziabad’s Kavi Nagar Ramlila Ground, Mayawati continued to lash out at her political opponents -- the BJP, the SP and the Congress --, as she accused them of adopting “anti-Dalit” policies.
“Congress had been at the helm for the longest time after Independence and people migrated because the means of livelihood were not available here... After that, whether it was the SP or BJP government which ruled the state, unemployed people migrated in search of livelihood as the governments here did not make arrangements for them,” she said. Mayawati kicked off her campaign for the UP polls on Wednesday from Agra.
