After Bihar Lesson, Bigger Parties Eye Alliance with Smaller Outfits to Take on BJP in 2022 UP Polls

After the Bihar assembly results, smaller political outfits representing Dalits and ‘backward’ castes have become significant in the Uttar Pradesh’s politics where assembly elections are due in 2022. The parties in the state have started preparing the blueprint of 2022 state assembly election keeping smaller parties in their mind.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and former CM Akhilesh Yadav recently indicated that the SP will contest the elections in alliance with smaller parties. Akhilesh is also leaving seat and promised cabinet berth to estranged uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav who had earlier broken away from SP and formed the Progressive Samajwadi Party (Lohia). Shivpal have also replied positively to the alliance formation.

In the last assembly election in 2017, Akhilesh Yadav had contested the poll with Congress and lost. The former CM also contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party, but SP couldn’t show much progress. The SP was left with only five seats but the Bahujan Samaj Party gained 10 Lok Sabha seats.

The Samajwadi Party which had left one seat for the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in the recent by-elections is likely to align with the RLD for assembly polls.

Keshav Dev, leader of the ‘Mahaan Dal, which has influence in western UP, is also seen to lean on the side of Akhilesh Yadav. In the Lok Sabha elections, Sanjay Chauhan of the Janwadi Party has lost the election in Chandauli on the election symbol of SP but he is actively working in ground closely with Akhilesh.

Experts believe that to prove his strength against the Bharatiya Janata Party, many parties have felt the need for an alliance. As many such smaller parties came into existence on the basis of castes, their support can be beneficial.

In the last assembly polls in 2017, around 290 registered parties fielded their candidates. Earlier, in the 2012 assembly elections, candidates of more than two hundred registered parties had tried their luck.

In 2017, the BJP used an alliance with Apna Dal (S) and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP). Anupriya Patel, an MP from the dominant Kurmi community in the backward classes in Uttar Pradesh, is the chairman of Apna Dal, while Om Prakash Rajbhar, leader of the most backward Rajbhar society leads the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party.

The BJP gave SBSP 8 and Apna Dal 11 seats in the 2017 assembly elections and contested for 384 seats. BJP won 312 seats, SBSP 4 and Apna Dal S bagged 9 seats.

The two parties were included in the BJP government headed Yogi Adityanath, but SBSP Chief Om Prakash Rajbhar who became the backward class welfare minister in the state cabinet rebelled over the question of the rights of the backward and broke away from the BJP alliance last year.

Om Prakash Rajbhar joined the alliance of Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samata Party and Bahujan Samaj Party in the Bihar assembly elections. But now Rajbhar has also started experimenting for elections in 2022.

“It is the era of coalition politics in the country, so we have formed Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha which includes more than a dozen parties,” Omprakash Rajbhar had earlier said. According to Rajbhar, parties which have joined the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha include Babu Singh Kushwaha’s Janadhikar Party, Krishna Patel’s Apna Dal Kamerawadi, Babu Ram Pal’s Rashtriya Uday Party, Ram Karan Kashyap’s Vanchit Samaj Party, Ram Sagar Bind’s Bharat Mata Party and Anil Chauhan’s Janata Kranti Party.

Rajbhar, who is also the convenor of the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha, said, “Options for our Bhagidari Sankalp Morhca are open. Whoever goes with us will form the government in Uttar Pradesh. We have not made any effort to speak to the SP-BSP yet.”

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP formed an alliance with the Nishad Party in addition to the Apna Dal (S). Pravin Nishad, son of Nishad Party President Dr Sanjay Nishad, contested and won the Lok Sabha elections on the BJP symbol. In the recent by-elections, Sanjay Nishad was openly active with the BJP.

“Sabka Saath – Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas is the basic mantra of BJP and on this basis small parties have been given respectful participation. We have strong relations with all the parties of the alliance which will be further strengthened,” BJP State Deputy Chief, Vijay Bahadur Pathak said while speaking on the issue of alliances with smaller parties.

As per highly placed sources in Congress, the Congress is also preparing for a new experiment as it can also forge alliances with smaller parties.

Excited with the election results in Bihar, Asaduddin Owaisi’s party All India Majlis-A-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has also increased its activity in UP. Owaisi had fielded 38 candidates in 2017, but couldn’t win even a single seat.

Chandrashekhar Azad, Chief of Azad Samaj Party also made their debut by entering the political fray through the by-election. On the basis of the votes of the Azad Samaj Party candidate in Bulandshahar, political analysts are suggesting that Chandrashekhar has strengthened his penetration witin the Dalit community.

In Bulandshahr, AIMIM’s candidate Dilshad Ahmed got 4,717 votes and Mohammad Yameen of Azad Samaj Party got 13,402 votes. It is to be noted that in Bulandshahar, Mohammad Yunus of BSP gave a tough fight to Usha Sirohi of BJP but lost with more than 20 thousand votes.

Some experts also claim that Azad Samaj Party and Owaisi’s party became the biggest reason for BSP candidate’s defeat because a section of Dalits supported Azad Samaj Party and a section of Muslims supported Owaisi’s AIMIM.

In the 2012 assembly elections, many small parties had registered their presence and got some seats but by the next election they either merged with different parties or their vote base was weakened. In 2012, the Peace Party tied up with Apna Dal, then Apna Dal won one seat and Peace Party won four seats, but in 2017, the Peace Party’s couldn’t win any seat.

The Qaumi Ekta Dal of strongman Mukhtar Ansari managed to win two seats in alliance with Rajbhar’s party but later merged with BSP.

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