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UP Assembly elections: Will Lord Ram help BJP do an encore in the fifth phase?

With the Ram Janmabhoomi issue legally settled and the construction of a grand temple underway, BJP is unable to use the issue anymore to woo voters. Ayodhya voters have other issues, like development, questionable deals in which land worth Rs 2 crore was bought by bureaucrats and politicians for a few lakhs, law and order under SP’s rule as talking points. Yet, as Yogi Adityanath said, Ayodhya is a symbol of Hindu identity writes senior journalist Atul Chandra.

UP Assembly elections: Will Lord Ram help BJP do an encore in the fifth phase?
UP Assembly elections: Will Lord Ram help BJP do an encore in the fifth phase?
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Published : Feb 26, 2022, 7:20 PM IST

If the size of a roadshow is any indicator, the Samajwadi Party is winning in Ayodhya hands down. Akhilesh Yadav’s roadshow in the land of Lord Ram on Friday was said to be longer than that of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by a couple of kilometers. Except that crowds at roadshows and election rallies may not always translate into votes. It is from Ayodhya that the BJP came to occupy the pole position in Indian and Uttar Pradesh politics, but finds itself on a tricky wicket this time around.

Once a rallying point for Hindus, Ayodhya will go to poll in the fifth phase of UP elections, along with Sultanpur, Prayagraj, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Barabanki, Bahraich, Shravasti, and Gonda. A total of 2.24 crore voters will decide the fate of 624 candidates. Some important candidates in this round of electoral battle include Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya who is pitted against Apna Dal (K) candidate Pallavi Patel in Kaushambi’s Sirathu constituency. Others in the fray are ministers Siddharth Nath Singh (Allahabad West) and Nand Gopal Nandi (Allahabad South).

While all the districts in this round have their own importance, Ayodhya is of greater significance because this is the first election after the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute. The BJP won all five seats in the district in 2017 and is trying hard to retain them. In the Ayodhya seat, Samajwadi Party's (SP) Pawan Pandey is locking horns with BJP MLA Ved Prakash Gupta who is facing anti-incumbency.

Amid reports of voter disenchantment, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has especially focused on this holy town to woo voters, removing all negative sentiment against the Yogi government for permitting too much bureaucratic control. So much so, that RSS leader Arun Kumar and Uttar Pradesh in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, have themselves tried to address the issues to prevent voters from shifting to other camps.

With the Ram Janmabhoomi issue legally settled and the construction of a grand temple underway, BJP is unable to use the issue anymore to woo voters. Ayodhya voters have other issues, like development, questionable deals in which land worth Rs 2 crore was bought by bureaucrats and politicians for a few lakhs, inaccessibility of BJP leaders, caste factor, and law and order under SP’s rule as talking points. Yet, as Yogi Adityanath said, Ayodhya is a symbol of Hindu identity. Losing Ayodhya will therefore be a big loss of face.

Also read: UP Elections: Low voter turnout in fourth phase cause of concern for BJP

To ensure that Hindus bear this point in mind at the time of pressing the EVM button, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad is distributing soil from Ram Janmabhoomi and Ram-Lalla's Prasad among voters to ensure their total allegiance to the BJP. Voter loyalty in the name of Ram-Lalla may not be very effective as the party faces a strong challenge from SP’s Pawan Pandey in view of the anger among various sections of 3.79 lakh voters in the Ayodhya segment.

Located over 100 km away from Ayodhya, Bahraich is one communally sensitive battleground in this phase where the BJP has played its card to galvanize Hindus. The party has invoked a medieval Hindu maharaja, Suheldev, who killed Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud, a Moghul invader, in a battle in Circa 1033 as a defender of the faith. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath have hailed Suheldev as a hero in an attempt to appropriate his legacy. While Modi has promised a huge statue of Suheldev, Yogi Adityanath launched several schemes in his name. Asaduddin Owaisi launched the AIMIM’s poll campaign with a visit to the dargah sharif of Salar Masud. Om Prakash Rajbhar, president of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) blamed the BJP for polarising voters in Maharaja Suheldev’s name.

Bahraich is a Muslim majority district with the minority community accounting for 56.07 percent vis-à-vis 42.40 percent Hindus and polarisation may help the BJP provided the Scheduled castes, Buddhists, Sikhs and Christians vote for it. The ruling party won six of the seven assembly seats in 2017 but is finding it difficult to do an encore.

Elsewhere, six-time MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya is again in the contest from Kunda. Raja Bhaiya shot to infamy with stories alleging that he fed those opposing him to crocodiles in his personal pond in the constituency. Mayawati, as Chief Minister, had Raja Bhaiya jailed. The strongman is back in the fray contesting as Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) party candidate for his seventh possible win.

Congress Party’s Aradhana Mishra is contesting from Rampur Khas, a bastion of her father and veteran Congress leader Pramod Tiwari. This is one seat that Congress is sure to win and dispel the disappointment that the party may have to face in other constituencies. The credit for Aradhana Mishra's victory, if it happens, will go to Tiwari who never lost an election from Rampur Khas.

Also read: Uttar Pradesh Assembly Polls: Muslims veer more towards Samajwadi Party

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of ETV Bharat)

If the size of a roadshow is any indicator, the Samajwadi Party is winning in Ayodhya hands down. Akhilesh Yadav’s roadshow in the land of Lord Ram on Friday was said to be longer than that of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by a couple of kilometers. Except that crowds at roadshows and election rallies may not always translate into votes. It is from Ayodhya that the BJP came to occupy the pole position in Indian and Uttar Pradesh politics, but finds itself on a tricky wicket this time around.

Once a rallying point for Hindus, Ayodhya will go to poll in the fifth phase of UP elections, along with Sultanpur, Prayagraj, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Barabanki, Bahraich, Shravasti, and Gonda. A total of 2.24 crore voters will decide the fate of 624 candidates. Some important candidates in this round of electoral battle include Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya who is pitted against Apna Dal (K) candidate Pallavi Patel in Kaushambi’s Sirathu constituency. Others in the fray are ministers Siddharth Nath Singh (Allahabad West) and Nand Gopal Nandi (Allahabad South).

While all the districts in this round have their own importance, Ayodhya is of greater significance because this is the first election after the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute. The BJP won all five seats in the district in 2017 and is trying hard to retain them. In the Ayodhya seat, Samajwadi Party's (SP) Pawan Pandey is locking horns with BJP MLA Ved Prakash Gupta who is facing anti-incumbency.

Amid reports of voter disenchantment, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has especially focused on this holy town to woo voters, removing all negative sentiment against the Yogi government for permitting too much bureaucratic control. So much so, that RSS leader Arun Kumar and Uttar Pradesh in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan, have themselves tried to address the issues to prevent voters from shifting to other camps.

With the Ram Janmabhoomi issue legally settled and the construction of a grand temple underway, BJP is unable to use the issue anymore to woo voters. Ayodhya voters have other issues, like development, questionable deals in which land worth Rs 2 crore was bought by bureaucrats and politicians for a few lakhs, inaccessibility of BJP leaders, caste factor, and law and order under SP’s rule as talking points. Yet, as Yogi Adityanath said, Ayodhya is a symbol of Hindu identity. Losing Ayodhya will therefore be a big loss of face.

Also read: UP Elections: Low voter turnout in fourth phase cause of concern for BJP

To ensure that Hindus bear this point in mind at the time of pressing the EVM button, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad is distributing soil from Ram Janmabhoomi and Ram-Lalla's Prasad among voters to ensure their total allegiance to the BJP. Voter loyalty in the name of Ram-Lalla may not be very effective as the party faces a strong challenge from SP’s Pawan Pandey in view of the anger among various sections of 3.79 lakh voters in the Ayodhya segment.

Located over 100 km away from Ayodhya, Bahraich is one communally sensitive battleground in this phase where the BJP has played its card to galvanize Hindus. The party has invoked a medieval Hindu maharaja, Suheldev, who killed Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud, a Moghul invader, in a battle in Circa 1033 as a defender of the faith. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath have hailed Suheldev as a hero in an attempt to appropriate his legacy. While Modi has promised a huge statue of Suheldev, Yogi Adityanath launched several schemes in his name. Asaduddin Owaisi launched the AIMIM’s poll campaign with a visit to the dargah sharif of Salar Masud. Om Prakash Rajbhar, president of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) blamed the BJP for polarising voters in Maharaja Suheldev’s name.

Bahraich is a Muslim majority district with the minority community accounting for 56.07 percent vis-à-vis 42.40 percent Hindus and polarisation may help the BJP provided the Scheduled castes, Buddhists, Sikhs and Christians vote for it. The ruling party won six of the seven assembly seats in 2017 but is finding it difficult to do an encore.

Elsewhere, six-time MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya is again in the contest from Kunda. Raja Bhaiya shot to infamy with stories alleging that he fed those opposing him to crocodiles in his personal pond in the constituency. Mayawati, as Chief Minister, had Raja Bhaiya jailed. The strongman is back in the fray contesting as Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) party candidate for his seventh possible win.

Congress Party’s Aradhana Mishra is contesting from Rampur Khas, a bastion of her father and veteran Congress leader Pramod Tiwari. This is one seat that Congress is sure to win and dispel the disappointment that the party may have to face in other constituencies. The credit for Aradhana Mishra's victory, if it happens, will go to Tiwari who never lost an election from Rampur Khas.

Also read: Uttar Pradesh Assembly Polls: Muslims veer more towards Samajwadi Party

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of ETV Bharat)

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