Parties vie for a pie in Muslim votes spread across two dozen seats
LUCKNOW: With the eight Lok Sabha seats of western UP set to vote in first phase on April 19, the battle for Muslim votes is taking a three-way turn in the state. While traditionally the SP-led INDIA Alliance and BSP have base in the community, the BJP has been reaching out to the Pasmanda (backward) Muslims who have benefited from welfare schemes, experts say.
Constituting 19 per cent of the UP population, Muslims hold key in at least two dozen seats where they are 20-50 per cent of the electorate. In this election, the benefit of traditional Muslim loyalty to the Congress will be reaped by INDIA, according to analysts. The SP has been following the Muslim-OBC formula to garner votes. This formula pushed the SP tally from 47 MLAs in 2017 to 111 in 2022 Assembly polls.
In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, SP and BSP were in a grand alliance in UP and major benefit was reaped by the Mayawati-led party which took its tally to 10 MPs in 2019 from zero in 2014.
According to political experts, the Muslim voters deserted the Mayawati in 2022. This time, when Mayawati is going it alone in UP, the SP is putting an all-out effort to effect a shift of Dalit votes towards it besides the backward and Muslims to improve its tally in Lok Sabha through its formula of PDA (Pichhada, Dalit and Alpsankhayak).
The BJP is trying to make inroads in the Muslim areas through its yatras and meetings in Muslim-dominated areas during the last year. The party had fielded 395 Muslim candidates in urban body polls in a bid to reach out to the community in 2023.
‘19% of UP population’
Constituting 19 per cent of the UP population, Muslims hold key in at least two dozen seats where they are 20-50 per cent of the electorate. In this election, the benefit of traditional Muslim loyalty to the Congress will be reaped by INDIA, according to analysts.