BJP faces stiff challenge in nine eastern UP districts

Akhilesh Tripathi | NT

The BJP faces its toughest challenge in 54 seats where polling would be held for the seventh and final phase for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on Monday.

Spread over nine districts of eastern UP, the seats going to polls also include seven constituencies that fall under Varanasi, the parliamentary seat that sent PM Modi to the Lok Sabha. The BJP has fielded candidates in 48 of these seats while leaving three seats each for its two small allies, Nishad Party and one splinter of Apna Dal. The BJP had won 29 seats in 2017 while it’s allies Apna Dal had won three, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) had grabbed four while Nishad Party had won one seat. The SP had taken 11 seats and BSP six. The equations has changed this time as SBSP is now allied with Samajwadi party (SP). Any dent in the seats falling under Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency would be considered a serious downslide for the party. So Modi, BJP chief JP Nadda and CM Adityanath have campaigned in the region.

Voters in Varanasi are annoyed with the BJP as most of it’s promises about development haven’t borne fruit. However, the creation of the Vishwanath Temple corridor has some added grace, but it was achieved by demolishing several dozens of smaller, older temples. Grapevine has it that most new businesses in the newly created corridor were allotted to Gujaratis. Some even accuse the city administration of turning the holy place into a grand shopping mall thereby robbing it of its sanctity.

The job situation has worsened during the last two lockdowns and youth have turned against the BJP. State’s Culture Minister Neelkanth Tiwari who represents the Varanasi South seat has been begging people to shed their anger and blames the lockdown for the party’s inability to create jobs.

Pindara seat under the Varanasi MP constituency too is giving sleepless nights to the BJP as Congress’ Ajay Rai is emerging the favourite among voters. Sailing in the troubled waters is Apna Dal’s splinter headed by Anupriya Patel who represents Mirzapur in Lok Sabha. Her faction has been given three seats by the BJP. Her mother Krishna Patel leads the rival faction of Apna Dal, now an ally of SP. Exit of heavyweights Swami Prasad Maurya and Dara Singh Chauhan has weakened BJP’s hold over OBC vote. The exit of SBSP from the NDA alliance also threatens to shift the votes of Rajbhars to the SP from BJP. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s last phase campaigning has also added to SP’s good fortune.