Packed rallies of Akhilesh Yadav ring alarm bells for BJP

Lucknow

Even as two phases of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Assembly elections have been completed, the packed rallies of Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav have set the alarm bells ringing for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Yadav, who is captaining his party in the high-octane UP assembly polls singlehandedly, is up for a litmus test to prove his leadership and organizational skills without the aid of any influential leader either in SP or among his pre-poll allies.

However, his election rallies have been gaining traction among the masses, especially the youth, with the public meeting venues brimming at the seams.

Consequently, the ruling BJP, which had been banking upon the popularity and mass appeal of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, has suddenly sharpened its attack on the SP by reminding the electorate of the alleged lawlessness, anarchy and corruption during the previous Akhilesh Yadav regime (2012-17).

Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed a rally in Kanpur Dehat district on Monday, highlighted the alleged nepotism and neglect of the farmers, poor and women in the SP government.

The BJP has also drawn up a hectic public meeting schedule for the coming phases even as the door-to-door campaign has been catalyzed to mobilize support at the grassroots ahead of the remaining voting days.

So far, Yadav has addressed rallies in Amroha, Unnao, Lucknow, Bijnore, Jalaun, Meerut, Firozabad, Mahoba, Rampur etc. More such public meetings have been planned by the socialist party.

Drawing from his political acumen and oratory skills, Yadav has been quite vocal and direct in attacking the saffron party and its tall leaders, including Modi and Adityanath.

However, the SP chief has deftly omitted references to the other opposition parties, including Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), to articulate a subtle message to voters that the contest is only between the BJP and SP.

Besides, he has actively been seeking the votes of traditional BSP supporters and Dalits by invoking Bhimrao Ambedkar and positioning SP as the champion of the poor and the marginalized sections of society.

Since the UP polls have kicked off from the Western UP districts, which have a sizeable population of the Muslim community, the SP is hoping to gain an upper hand vis-à-vis BJP since its core constituency comprises Muslim and Yadav communities.

Besides, SP has allied with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) to consolidate the Jat community votes in favour of the SP-RLD combine, thus expanding its vote basket at the expense of the BJP.

There are more than 150 million registered voters in UP, which has the country’s highest assembly constituencies numbering 403. The UP Assembly elections are scheduled in seven rounds in Feb and March 2022, viz. Feb 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7. The counting of votes will be done on March 10.