NEW DELHI: Sharp social bitterness among the core support base of the Samajwadi Party and the BSP seemingly appears fuelling prospects of saffron spring in Uttar Pradesh, which has become mother of all state poll battle. The BJP poll managers have been positively surprised to find that the anxiety of the core support base not to see the rival political outfit coming to power in Lucknow has translated into saffron votes. The BJP claims to have gained from the support base of the two leading “caste identified” parties – SP and BSP.
“We have come across scores of reports from the ground from areas which have already gone to the polls, which suggest that the core support vote base of both the SP and BSP cast their votes in favour of the BJP nominees in their eagerness to ensure that the candidates of rival party don’t win the polls. Thus, it has been seen that the supporters of the SP backed the BJP nominees in constituencies where they assessed that the BSP candidates had been enjoying edge,” said a senior BJP leader, who is camping in Gorakhpur to spearhead the saffron push in the Poorvanchal areas of the state.
He also stated that the core support base of the BSP also replicated the pattern when they came across situations where the SP candidates were seen having clear edge in the Assembly constituencies to back the BJP nominees seen by them with potential to win.
“The core constituencies of the SP and BSP are known social rivals. The SP core support base largely has interests in land and properties, besides enjoying police patronage. The BSP constituencies have a sense of social insecurity from the SP supporters. They have been socially mutually exclusive,” added the BJP functionary.
With the BSP supremo Mayawati banking on a re-worked social engineering in which she has given pre-eminence to Muslims and Brahmins, the BJP leaders claim that her coming to power is seen as a threat to the interests of those who have enjoyed police and political patronage under the SP government. “Such people have backed the BJP candidates in their endeavour to stop Mayawati coming to power. The same has been seen in the case of the BSP support base. They switched ranks as they do not identify the BJP with any caste,” said the BJP functionary.
Unlike Bihar where the BJP was caught in a straight electoral battle with the political behemoth in the alliance between the chief minister Nitish Kumar and the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, the saffron outfit appears convinced that the multi-cornered contest in UP gives the BJP a clear edge. “The arithmetic and chemistry of the Bihar Mahagathbandhan delivered a perfect script to which the BJP had no answer. UP is a case in contrast where neither chemistry nor arithmetic exists between the SP and Congress, while the BSP remain the third poll,” added the BJP functionary.