Page 29 - English Tehelka Issue 7 - April 15, 2018

ow small events can ini- expose the communal outfit’s anti- for the first time that Akhilesh Yadav rank and file of the RJD and to the leader said in an interview with a tant because they have statewide
tiate a big change could Dalit face. Because of the conspiracy and RJD’s Tejaswi Yadav fought on ruling alliance in Bihar led by Nitish news agency. ramifications. Many children had
be seen in the afteref- hatched by the BJP against a Dalit their own. For Akhilesh, it was a test Kumar that he is an appropriate re- Tejaswi also echoed the same died of Japanese Encephalitis last
fects of by-elections in getting elected, SP-BSP unity has got case and he had to prove to his fam- placement for his father Lalu Pras- thing in his interview to a news year and the Yogi government failed
H Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. strengthened all the more for the ily that he could run the party with- ad, who is in jail after being convict- channel. He referred the name of to rise to the occasion. He also did
Results of Phulpur, Gorakhpur in UP Lok Sabha polls,” argued Akhilesh Ya- out the support of seniors Mulayam ed in several cases pertaining to the Rahul Gandhi among the probable not take any action to meet the fu-
and Arariya in Bihar have cemented dav in an interview to a news agency. Singh Yadav and Shivapal Yadav. This infamous fodder scam. He had to candidates for the post of prime ture challenges in the health sector
a much-needed unity among the Results in UP and Bihar are not time, uncle Ramgopal was also not prove his mettle to the constituency minister and reiterated his commit- which is plagued with infrastructur-
Opposition parties. Till recently, it only important for the larger opposi- much visible. which his father has nursed for over ment to the broader alliance led by al ills. His budget allocations also did
appeared to be a difficult proposi- tion unity, but also for the two parties Tejaswi was not under any family two and half decades. His mature Congress against BJP. not reflect any willingness to alter
tion to have BSP Chief Mayawati that have won the elections. It was pressure but he had to prove to the responses after the win also added The two bypolls have affected the the situation in the state. Instead, he
and Samajwadi Party leader Akh- to the perception that he would existing social equations in UP. If we chose to prioritise the issues which
ilesh Yadav under one umbrella to make himself a good leader in due take a look at the social equations in are meant to consolidate Hindutva
prevent Prime Minister Narendra course of time. the state, it becomes clear that the support base. He allocated liberally
Modi and his Chanakya Amit Shah Bypolls: Signs of Both the young leaders are going results of bye-elections have shown for cow-protection and other simi-
from repeating a 2014-like win in to play crucial roles in 2019. They a positive change in favour of the lar things.
2019. The results of the by-elections have pledged an unconditional sup- Opposition. The social engineer- BJP governments at the Centre
showed them the way. They have Opposition’s recovery port to Congress in the coming Lok and the state have failed to contain
not only joined hands but also made Sabha polls. unemployment. Problem of unem-
it clear that they would be part of a • Interests “My relations with the Congress Yogi’s budget ployment combined with farmers’
larger alliance led by Rahul Gandhi’s clash BJP alleg- are good and will remain so. It is a distress has affected support base of
Congress in opposing BJP and RSS to There is much more to the BJP’s loss in the bypolls than the es Samajwadi national party while we are strong allocations did the party and it has been reflected
power in the 2019 general elections. SP-BSP alliance. The ruling saffron party must open its eyes Party, BSP used here in the state. The preparations not reflect any in the results of bypolls across the
The BJP tried to outmanoeuvre govt machinery for stitching together an alliance country. The same is true for UP.
the SP and BSP in Rajya Sabha polls to voter discontent and anti-incumbency that can have major for personal are on. The leader will be decided willingness to Here, it is important to note that
held just after the bypolls. The party implications in the 2019 general elections, anil sinha writes interests later at an opportune time,“ the SP alter the situation coming together of BSP and SP is
could engineer cross-voting and the not being properly interpreted. In
BSP candidate supported by the SP in the state. Gorakhpur, Yogi has been winning
was defeated. The BJP-supported Instead, he chose elections by grabbing more than
media tried to portray the defeat as 50 per cent of votes. He was doing
the failure of the new alliance of BSP to prioritise this in a situation where both SP
and the SP. It started predicting a col- consolidation and BSP were in the fray. So, simply
lapse of the alliance which was yet to coming together of these parties
start formally. of the Hindutva might not have defeated the BJP.
However, reacting to the success Other reasons like people’s discon-
of BJP in defeating the BSP candidate support base tent must have played some role in
for Rajya Sabha in Uttar Pradesh, defeating the BJP candidate.
Mayawati said that if BJP thinks that Bypoll results also coincided
failure of SP leader Akhilesh in en- ing which the BJP had done in 2014 with important developments in
suring the BSP candidate’s win will elections by taking advantage of the the Opposition camp and they in-
make her angry and she will snap division among OBCs on the lines of dicate a better situation ahead for it.
the ties with the SP, the saffron party Yadavs and non-Yadavs is now col- The meeting called by Sonia Gandhi
was wrong. She made it clear that lapsing. In Gorakhpur, a non-Yadav was attended by most of the major
the two parties would remain united OBC candidate has won on the tick- opposition parties and opposition
to oust the BJP from power. et of Samajwadi Party. The Nishad leaders like Sharad Pawar seem to
She also made it clear that she community has sizable population have buried their differences with
had good relations with the Con- in the area. It is for the first time in the Congress, at least for the 2019
gress and it would remain so. She three decades that a non-BJP candi- elections. Though, the Congress
reminded that her party had been date has won the elections. The seat fared very poorly in the bypolls of
helping out the UPA government was held by Mahanth Awaidyanath UP, none in the Opposition camp
during crises. of Gorakhnath Math and then by made it a point to criticize Rahul or
“The victory of the BJP on the Yogi Adityanath, for over two and his party. They also indicated that
ninth seat, contested by the saffron half decades. the results would not affect future
party with the help of money power, The local factors that have played arrangements. However, the results
has given the SP an opportunity to a part in elections are also impor- have made it difficult for the Con-

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