Akhilesh Yadav’s bid to penetrate the Dalit vote bank may witness a reversal as Ravan accuses him of breaking the prospective alliance.
New Delhi: The announcement of Azad Samaj Party (ASP) founder Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan’ that his party will not join hands with the Samajwadi Party-led alliance and rather try to form a third front of several Opposition parties in the coming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, might harm the prospects of SP-RLD alliance in western parts of the State.
Those who are closely watching the developments and analysing the fallout of the move think that the outburst of Ravan that “Akhilesh Yadav does not want Dalits in this alliance but just wants their votes” might adversely impact the SP’s mission to penetrate into the community, which constitutes roughly 21 percent of the State’s population.
While addressing the media to announce that the alliance talk is over, Ravan said, “I wanted to join the SP-led alliance. After end of the discussions, I felt that Akhilesh Yadav does not want Dalits in this alliance, he just wants Dalit vote bank. He humiliated the people of Bahujan Samaj. I tried hard but the alliance could not finally materialise.”
An ASP leader based in Lucknow said, “Wait for a few days. No one is untouchable for us. We have built an organisation over the last four years. It’s realpolitik, we knew that Akhilesh Yadav will never like to give space to a new entrant like us. That’s why we had a plan-B ready. Many political parties are in touch with us. We will fight in at least 100 seats in the State.”
“SP did the alliance with parties like Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), Mahan Dal and Janwadi Party, all of whom have limited pockets of influence in a few districts of UP. But we have a presence in at least 45 out of 78 districts in the State. In the coming few days, you will witness our next calculated move which will harm SP the most,” he added.
Ravan’s party does have certain pockets of influence in the districts of Western UP like Saharanpur, Shamli, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Hapur.
Many experts, who follow the dynamics and caste arithmetic of Western UP, agree that Ravan might not win seats and influence the outcome of the Assembly elections in a major way, but his departure from the Samajwadi camp will surely unsettle the narrative Yadav is trying to build since the last six months.
Talking to The Sunday Guardian, social scientist Sumit Kumar Jha, who teaches at the University of Delhi and writes on Uttar Pradesh, said, “We all know that ASP was not even a contender in 10 Assembly seats. It is also true for other parties with whom SP made an alliance. But, on the eve of the elections, the message went against the Samajwadi Party. Now, BJP has an additional weapon in its arsenal to counter Yadav’s narrative.”
“Many ASP sympathisers, who would have otherwise supported the SP-led alliance, will now vote against it. Moreover, if Ravan allies with AIMIM, then the whole calculus of Yadav might go for a tailspin in 50 Assembly seats of the region. Hence, it would have been a wise choice to keep ASP in the alliance,” he added.
The politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh will go for polls in seven phases which will start on February 10 and end on March 7. The UP Assembly has a total strength of 403 members. In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP had won three-fourth majority on its own while SP’s tally came down to 47 seats.