LUCKNOW/PATNA: With elections to five State Assemblies beginning next month, political parties, across the board, have started to test new waters and try different equations. While the rare bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar grabbed instant attention, Mayawati’s list of candidates for the Uttar Pradesh polls, with significant representation of Muslims and further drifting apart of the warring factions of Samajwadi Party did not go unnoticed.
Despite Bihar not being a poll-bound State, the Modi-Nitish chemistry had the pundits drooling about the implications of shared smiles and mutual admiration. The development, however, is not surprising. Nitish was the only Opposition leader to support demonetisation. The move seems to have gone a long way in improving personal and political rapport between him and Modi.
In Patna to celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, Modi showered praises on Nitish for his prohibition drive. “Bringing reform in society is very difficult. Despite that, the pain he has taken to save the coming generations from addiction is praiseworthy,” Modi said. An ally of the Congress in the State, Nitish praised Modi for keeping Gujarat alcohol-free.
Meanwhile, in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati released her first list of 100 candidates for the Assembly elections. Nearly 35 per cent of the candidates were from the Muslim community, signalling her intention to exploit the SP vote-bank. The BSP’s first list clearly reflects its tested formula of social engineering, this time based on Muslim-Dalit combination, especially in western UP. Here, by and large, Muslims constitute 26 per cent of the population, much higher than the State average of 19 per cent.
In the rival camp, more than 200 SP MLAs signed a written affidavit in favour of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to be produced before the Election Commission for staking claim to the bicycle symbol. However, renewed efforts to strike truce between the warring factions also gained momentum. So did reports of a meeting between Akhilesh and Gandhi scions Rahul and Priyanka to strike an alliance deal. On the other hand, claiming a strong wave of support, the BJP scaled up its UP target from 265 to 300 seats.