Where else, if not in Uttar Pradesh?

With a decisive lot of 80 seats in India’s most populous state, the saying is true to its core. No wonder all the aspirants for the prime ministerial post choose this state to try their luck. Winning Uttar Pradesh will lead the party to power at the centre and that’s something all the parties hope for.

Uttar Pradesh witnesses too many star battles this time, with many important names, which include the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, the Congress’ Rahul Gandhi and party president Sonia Gandhi, the Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal, the Samajwadi Party’s Mulayam Singh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) Mayawati, Rashtriya Lok Dal’s (RLD) Ajit Singh and many more. The only party which is in an alliance worth mentioning is the Congress which has succeeded in joining hands with Ajit Singh’s party.

In a state divided by caste and religion, the BJP is looking to cash in on the strong Hindutva image of Modi. The Congress, which has lost its Muslim vote base in previous elections, is trying hard to woo the community back. But Mulayam’s Samajwadi Party and the BSP stand on its way. The Samajwadi Party’s influence among the Muslims was impacted by the recent riots that have rocked the government. The BSP hopes to add the Muslim voter base into its kitty of Dalits and Brahmins after the Muzaffarnagar riots which killed over 60 people, mainly Muslims. Mulayam’s selection of Azamgarh, a constituency where Muslim votes are decisive, to contest the polls is seen as a move to pacify them after the riots. Other factors to influence the minority-majority voting pattern are the BJP’s promise on Ayodhya, Cobrapost’s sting revelation on the Babri Masjid demolition, Modi aide Amit Shah’s alleged hate speech on Muzaffarnagar attacks and Congress candidate Imran Masood’s alleged threat to “cut Modi into pieces if he dared to treat Muslims in the state the same way he treated them in Gujarat”, a clear reference to the 2002 Gujarat riots which allegedly killed thousands of Muslims.

However, all eyes are on the Hindu pilgrim town of Varanasi, the constituency where Modi takes on Delhi’s giant killer Arvind Kejriwal and the Congress’ Ajay Rai. Displaced by Modi’s candidature in Varanasi, a dissatisfied veteran leader and BJP heavyweight Murli Manohar Joshi has moved to Kanpur, where he is contesting against Union minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal of the Congress. Resentment among BJP workers is strong in the constituency who expected local leader Vikas Jaiswal to get the BJP ticket. Congress president Sonia and son Rahul are also fighting elections in the state. In Amethi, Rahul is fighting a multi-cornered battle against the AAP’s Kumar Vishwas and the BJP’s Smriti Irani. Both the rivals exude confidence about their victory against the Congress vice-president and PM-aspirant. In Rae Bareli, Sonia faces local activist and lawyer Ajay Aggarwal of the BJP. However, the AAP had faced a jolt here after its assigned candidate Justice Fakruddin pulled out from the fray at the last minute. The Samajwadi Party has decided not to field candidates from Rae Bareli and Amethi.

In the Azamgarh constituency, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav fights Arvind Jaiswal of the Congress and Ramakant Yadav of the BJP, while in Mulayam’s second constituency, Mainpuri, the BJP has fielded B.S.S. Chauhan. BJP leader and Rahul’s cousin Varun Gandhi is contesting from the Sultanpur constituency, which was won by the Congress’ Dr Sanjay Singh against the BSP’s ex-MP Mohammed Tahir in 2009. The Congress has fielded Sanjay Singh’s wife Amita Singh against Varun. Maneka Gandhi is expected to win from her Pilbhit constituency against the Congress’ Sanjay Kapoor.

The BJP hopes to take over Jhansi from the Congress’ Pradeep Jain Aditya by fielding firebrand leader Uma Bharti, while BJP president Rajnath Singh is trying to retain Lucknow in a multi-cornered fight with the Congress’ Rita Bahuguna Joshi and the AAP’s actor candidate Jaaved Jaaferi.

Bollywood ‘dreamgirl’ Hemamalini is in a tough fight in Mathura for the BJP against sitting MP and RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary and Pandit Yogesh Dwivedi of the BSP. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is confident about retaining the Bijnore constituency by fielding actor Jayaprada against Bartendra Kunwar of the BJP and Malik Nagar of the BSP. Another star on the UPA list is Nagma, who is in a close battle against sitting MP Rajendra Aggarwal of the BJP and Shahid Ikhlaq of the BSP.

The BJP’s sitting seat Ghaziabad is witnessing a clash of the Titans. Former army chief Gen. V.K. Singh faces the Congress’ actor-turned politician Raj Babbar and former television journalist Shazia Ilmi of the AAP.

Minister Ajeet Singh of the RLD is testing his luck again in the family constituency of Baghpet while former SP leader Amar Singh is contesting in Fatehpur Sikri on RLD ticket.

Surveys have redicted the BJP to win more than 40 of the 80 seats in the state. However, ground reality can be different and the communal factor can change the outcome. If the SP or the BSP manages to win around 20 seats, Mulayam or Mayawati will play a key role in Delhi’s government formation.

anuwarrier@khaleejtimes.com

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