UP Alliances
Added: (Thu Mar 08 2007)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
With elections dates been declared in Uttar Pradesh slated to begin next month in April all political parties have started looking for sleeping partners. The Kurmi Party Apna Dal of Sonelal Patel is the most in demand. Both the BJP and the Congress are wooing him and Patel is bargaining three- ways. He has had several round of talks with VP Singh Raj Babbar’s Jan Morcha He met Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi of the BJP at Sharad Yadav’s house today.
BJP leaders claim that talks were positive and they may finally strike a pre poll alliance with Apna Dal. The BJP is eyeing the 3.5 % Kurmi votes of UP. In a strategic move the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar a well known Kurmi leader of Bihar would campaign for the BJP in UP. With Kalyan Singh in charge of UP the BJP is hopeful of getting the 2.2 Lodh Votes also and with Rajnath Singh a Thakur as their national President the BJP is also confident of getting the major chunk of the 7.2% Rajput votes. The 2 % Vaish votes are traditionally BJP votes. And Brahmins once a Congress support base that constitute 9 % and 1% Kayasthas have been voting for the BJP in he post Ayodhya communal divide.
The BJP leaders are also in touch with another small OBC party of Rajbhar the Bharatiya Vikas Party. Thus the BJP is confident of emerging as the single largest party after the elections. On the other hand the Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his henchman Amar Singh are trying to strike with the various Muslim groups . Amar Singh recently had a long meeting with the Shahi Imam of Delghi Jama Masjid. This is seen as a move in desperation to hold back the Muslim votes. He is the same Imam whose father the elder Imam Mulayam had snubbed in 1991 asking him to do his Job of Imamat and let him do his political work.
Amar Singh had called on the Shahi Imam to seek his support. He Congress is still struggling with the idea whether they should have pre poll alliances or wait to strike deals in post poll scenario. But one thing is sure that they would be leaving about 80 seats for Jan Morcha and Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal . Meanwhile the buzz is that that nearly 80 BJP and nearly the same number of Samajwadi men are seeking ticket from the BSP so that defections become easy in post elections.