Image: PTI
At an election meeting on Monday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath once again accused the Opposition of appeasement politics, this time his target was the Mayawati led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
According to Adityanath, the BSP’s list of candidates for the state polls resembled “Muslim League”. Perhaps inspired by how Whatsapp is often used by right-wing cadres to spread fake ‘history’ of various kinds, here the usage of “Muslim League” was to use it as a slur to refer to a party being anti-Hindu and pro-Muslim. Ironically, after this Muslim Vs Hindu jibe, he also accused the entire Opposition of playing politics of “appeasement” and “spreading hatred among communities to increase their votebank”!
According to Indian Express, Adityanath said, “While the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) candidate list gives a clear message that the party is not ready to leave criminals, goons and rioters, the Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) list of candidates resembles a ‘Muslim league’. This proves that they will not give equal representation to all sections and regions.” He said Samajwadi Party “provided electricity on Eid-Bakrid,” and “there were power cuts during Holi and Deepawali.” He claimed that it was “for the first time, government schemes are reaching every individual in the state under the BJP government.”
Ironically, the CM said people have rejected “hardcore dynasts”, forgetting that his party has plenty of them, and most recent additions include ‘celebrity leaders’ such as Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia, son of Madhavrao Scindia, and Jitin Prasada, son of Jitendra Prasada. The CM has also claimed that the BJP election symbol ‘lotus’ will surely “bloom at every booth of Gorakhpur”.
Thakur Vs Brahmin in Gorakhpur sadar?
Adityanath is contesting his first assembly election from the Gorakhpur Sadar constituency. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat until 2017, when he was picked to be the state Chief Minister. Gorakhpur Sadar, goes to the polls on March 3.
Adityanath, a Thakur faces a challenge from Samajwadi Party’s Brahmin candidate Subhavati Shukla, the widow of late BJP leader Upendra Dutt Shukla. Congress candidate is Chetna Pandey and the Bahujan Samaj Party’s candidate is Khwaja Shamsuddin. Azad Samaj Party’s Chandra Shekhar Azad ‘Ravan’, is another candidate and is a well known name as a Dalit leader in Uttar Pradesh. According to a report in Moneycontrol, among the 4,50,000 voters in Gorakhpur Sadar, there are roughly 75,000 Brahmins and 50,000 Thakurs. Adityanth’s debut MLA election is the real test for him, as he has so far been a member of the UP Vidhan Parishad (legislative council). Though Gorakhpur is considered his home turf, his name had also been floated on the grapevine as a possible candidate from Ayodhya.
The SP candidate Subhavati Shukla, and her family reportedly accused the BJP of humiliating them by “ignoring Upendra’s Shukla’s contribution in building the party in Gorakhpur”. According to Moneycontrol, Subhavati said she was fighting the election to restore the honour of her husband. Upendra was a prominent Brahmin face of eastern UP, and now the reported perception is that Brahmins are being neglected since a Thakur is the CM.
The BJP has also alleged and SP-Congress alliances in earlier elections in the state, even Prime Minister Modi had recently said that “Samajwadi Party government withdrew cases against several terrorists accused of terror attacks in Uttar Pradesh. While the terrorists carried out blasts across the state, the SP government didn’t allow trials against them.” Adityanath has also claimed, “Our government’s sentiments are with every section of the society, but SP’s support base is with terrorists. The previous Samajwadi Party government was the first to withdraw terror cases.” He added, “Whenever they (SP, BSP) ruled, riots took place. No riots took place in the last five years, while 700 riots took place during the SP government and 364 riots during BSP’s rule.” Even though exit polls are banned, the incumbent chief minister of Uttar Pradesh claimed that the BJP has attained an inaccessible lead in the first five phases of the ongoing assembly polls and the party is poised well to hit a ‘sixer’ in the final phases to romp home with 300-plus seats, stated news reports.
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