BJP exodus: Can Akhilesh Yadav unseat Yogi Adityanath as UP OBC politics peaks?

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is worried. Three ministers and a series of MLAs have quit the BJP to join Samajwadi Party (SP) just days ahead of the crucial assembly elections in the state. Of the 10 MLAs, nine are OBCs belonging to non-Yadav castes. Almost all of them have left behind identical letters of resignations alleging neglect of Dalits and backwards. Will these desertions ahead of polls lead to big cracks in the BJPs Hindu vote bank? Will it strengthen Akhilesh Yadav’s hand and help him emerge as a leader of the OBCs? How will this impact assembly polls? Hindustan Times Editor-in Chief Sukumar Ranganathan decodes the fight for OBC votes in Uttar Pradesh in conversation with Aditi Prasad.