Minority holds ‘majority hope’ for SP-alliance contestants in 2nd phase

By Kulsum Mustafa If democracy is all about numbers, it is primarily the minority that is holding up majority hope for the Samajwadi Party and its alliance partners in the crucial second phase of the Uttar  Pradesh assembly elections. Out of the nine Western-Central situated districts going to polls on February 14, six have a Muslim dense population. With over 60 percent minority votes in Rampur and Moradabad, the percentage is over 40 percent in Saharanpur, Bijnor, Amroha, Sambhal, Bareilly, Badaun, and Shahjahanpur. This phase, therefore, promises a bumper vote yield for the SP alliance.
On Saturday, as the dust settled down on electioneering in these districts wherein 586 candidates are contesting for the 55 seats, political calculations gained momentum.  In the 2017 assembly polls here the BJP had won 38, SP 15, and SP’s alliance partner Congress had got two seats.
Minority supported Akhilesh in 2017 polls Chief of SP, Akhilesh Yadav had got full support from the minority even in the 2017 elections. Ten, out of the party’s 15 winners were from the minority. However, the bigger chunk of  Hindu votes, especially that of the Jats, OBC, and Dalits had gone to the BJP and its allies. Polarization through aggressive Hindutva agenda, instilling fear of Muslim appeasement were moves that succeeded in the majority community voter shunning SP totally in 2017.
Five years later Akhilesh has attempted to work on all these factors. He has made a pre-poll alliance with the popular leaders of all castes. Swami Prasad Maurya, Om Prakash Rajbhar, and Jayanat Chaudhury are part of the SP coalition that is fighting the BJP in the 2022 assembly polls. Over the months Akhilesh has also collected an interesting collage of candidates from other parties which includes  Dharma Singh Saini, a Yogi Adityanath government minister who switched to SP after the polls were declared.
It is said that the party has also made strategic secret pacts with farmers’ bodies which is giving the party a lot of ground support. Angry and feeling let down at the treatment meted out to them by the BJP, the farmers are in sync with SP sentiments o oust- BJP as they say they cannot trust it and fear BJP will make things difficult for the farmers if they come back to power.