BJP, SP wooing each other’s lawmakers

Both parties are looking to make a strong statement in the run-up to the 2022 UP assembly elections

Eager to use the July 3 zila panchayat chairpersons’ elections to make a strong statement ahead of the 2022 UP assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) have begun winning over each other’s lawmakers.

Earlier this month, former BJP MLA Dilip Verma crossed over to the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Bahraich from where his wife Madhuri is currently a sitting BJP MLA.

The BJP didn’t do well in the direct leg of the panchayat elections for 3050 zila panchayat ward members’ posts, falling behind the Samajwadi Party. The scene was no different in Bahraich where the BJP trailed behind the SP.

The BJP responded by approaching the “estranged” SP MLA from Sirsaganj in Firozabad, Hari Om Singh Yadav, a relative of SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav to seek his support for the zila panchayat chairperson’s post. Hari Om Yadav’s wife and son are zila panchayat ward members and BJP vicepresident Daya Shankar Singh and local MP Chandrasen Jadaun, who visited the SP MLA, said they have been assured of support.

The SP has already started declaring its list of zila panchayat chairpersons though the BJP, a touch circumspect, has only just concluded consultations with ministers and lawmakers as well as senior party functionaries about the possible claimants for the post.

“Meetings have taken place on these elections at the highest level right up to the level of the chief minister. Ministers and lawmakers in whose regions the party-backed candidates didn’t do well in the zila panchayat ward level elections would obviously want to make amends by helping the party win the zila panchayat chairpersons’ post,” a BJP leader said.

Independent candidates are much sought after in these elections and BJP leaders admit that a majority of them are in touch with them.

On its part, the BJP has been claiming that it reduced the SP’s clout in these rural polls.

“A party that used to win thousands of panchayat wards has to rest content with a few hundred ward wins this time. We would now soon see how the SP fares in the elections to the zila panchayat chairpersons’ posts,” said UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev.

“These elections were always known to go with the ruling party. Now that the BJP has tested which way the wind is blowing, they are coming up with explanations,” said SP leader IP Singh.

An SP delegation also met senior officials in Lucknow to complain that the SP cadres were being targeted.

Beyond such posturing, political observers say the rural polls will impact the assembly elections.

“The BSP leadership expelled its two top leaders who were known to enjoy the confidence of party chief Mayawati on the grounds that they didn’t cooperate with the party in the zila panchayat ward level polls. The BJP and SP are wooing each other’s lawmakers. Defections are common in an election year, but these rural polls have added an interesting new dimension to the poll battle,” said veteran journalist Irshad Ilmi.

“Newer political players in UP like AAP (Aam Aadmi Party) and AIMIM (All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) and newer political combinations like Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha have also used these elections to test themselves ahead of the big battle,” he said.

INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES ARE MUCH SOUGHT AFTER IN THESE ELECTIONS AND BJP LEADERS ADMIT THAT A MAJORITY OF THEM ARE IN TOUCH WITH THEM