Modi Wave Uproots BSP, SP

May 17 2014 : The Economic Times (Kolkata)

Modi Wave Uproots BSP, SP

MAN MOHAN RAI

LUCKNOW





ON THE BACKFOOT SP has though emerged as the preferred choice of the Muslim in most places but squandered away its hold on Other Backward Caste and a section of Extremely Backward Caste in the country's largest state Modi-Amit Shah Magic Works in All Corners of UP BJP's Tie-Up with Kurmi outfit Apna Dal also works in the state for both the partners BJP has swept the state, leaving space only in those places where Gandhis and Mulayam's clan were contesting

The BSP and SP may have been contemplating a drub bing at the hands of the BJP in the current election, but the results have shown a complete decimation of the BSP with the SP only managing to clutch a few straws in the wind. For decades the SP and BSP had carved out the state between themselves, but the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah gameplan has completely changed the arithmetic, for now, an in all likelihood in the assembly polls only two years from now.

The BJP has swept all corners of the state leaving space only in those places where members of the Gandhi and Mulayam Singh Yadav clan were contesting.

Modi's subtle positioning of his OBC credentials in the run up to the Lok Sabah polls, which became a full blown projection after Priyanka Gandhi called him a practitioner of "neechi rajneeti" which was lapped up by Modi to potray an assault on his "neechi jaati" has worked for the party and made deep inroads into the backward caste votebank of Mulayam Singh Yadav. While the SP seems to have managed to secure large number of Muslim votes, it could not hold back the non-Yadav OBC's especially the numerically strong Kurmis, Lodhs, Gujjars etc. The lone tie up that the BJP had with the Kurmi outfit Apna Dal has not only provided the much needed last minute fillip to the BJP, but also helped its two candidates Anupriya Patel and Harbans Singh sail through to Parliament.

Mulayam and Akhilesh Yadav, may have also seen some of the their Yadav's votes shifting to wherever the BJP put up a strong Yadav, like in Azamgarh where Mu layam himself won by a n o n i m p r e s s i v e margin despite the seat being dominated by Yadavs and Muslims. The S P h a s t hou g h emerge d a s t he pr efer e d choic e of the Muslim in most places but squandered away its hold on OBC's and a section of EBC's in the "Modi wave". Yadav's attempt to consolidate EBCs like Bind, Prajapati, Kashyap have failed and shifted to the BJP, which as per Shah's strategy has been wooing them through the larger Hindutava narrative. IT'S LOST PLOT FOR BIG ONES ARUN JAITLEY, BJP LOSES BY NEARLY 1 LAKH VOTES The senior Bhartiya Janta Party leader Arun Jaitley lost the most talked-about Amritsar Lok Sabha seat to former Punjab chief minister and Congress candidate Amarinder Singh by nearly a lakh votes. This seat became one of the most-talked poll battles between the two national parties after the ruling party fielded Singh. KAPIL SIBAL, CONGRESS COMES 3RD IN CHANDNI CHOWK Union minister Kapil Sibal lost the Chandni Chowk seat by a margin of 1 lakh votes to BJP's Harsh Vardhan. He finished third behind AAP candidate and journalist-turned-politician, Ashutosh. Accepting defeat he tweeted "Congratulations @drharshvardhan on an impressive victory! A big thank you to my party workers. SUSHILKUMAR SHINDE, CONG GETS JUST 3.6 LAKH VOTES Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde is one of the many Union ministers who lost the elections. He managed to get about 3.6 lakh votes against 5.2 lakh votes Sharad Bansode of BJP secured in Solapur, Maharashtra. Solapur was consdered to be a safe seat for the Congress because of Shinde's votecatching appeal.