BJP wants to see the SP candidates’ list, but Akhilesh Yadav wouldn’t just give in

BJP wants to see the candidates’ list so that it can aim at polarising the polls, SP feels

The election scenario in Uttar Pradesh has all the traits of a potboiler. The poll scene in the state is closely watched by almost everyone in the country, and may be by those overseas beings interested in Indian politics too. UP has always been the focus point whenever elections are announced. A large state, which has a major say when it comes to political affairs of the nation as a whole, is obviously a much monitored terrain.

And that makes it important for parties vying to grab the maximum number of seats in the UP Assembly. With Akhilesh Yadav and his poll strategies aimed at a Samajwadi Party win this time around gaining traction, the BJP has been experiencing a lull as the poll dates near. BJP leader and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s latest utterances could even point to a sense of concern as the SP wagon chugs ahead.

BJP has to fight SP, Congress and Mayawati’s BSP and decimate them to retain power in the Assembly. And in its bid to that, party leaders have been doing all they can to stay on top of people’s minds.

Let’s see the candidates’ list, clamours BJP

The latest on that front is the BJP’s jibes against the Samajwadi Party’s candidate lists. The leaders in the saffron outfit have been calling on Akhilesh Yadav to reveal the full list of candidates. Keshav Prasad Maurya, the UP Deputy Chief Minister, by way of a tweet asked why the candidate lists by the Samajwadi Party are not being made public, and what the party is afraid of. It becomes a matter of intrigue as to what would BJP gain by knowing who the SP candidates are!

But the SP has answers to why BJP has been doing that. As per the SP leaders, the BJP wants to know who the rival SP candidates are so that the saffron party can look to polarise the state election. Giving examples of what have been happening in this regard in the western part of the state over the past weeks, the SP believes that the BJP move is to find out whether they will be forced to go on a back foot if the SP fields capable candidates in the region. The BJP is already at a loss in terms of public sentiment in western UP, triggered by the farmers’ agitation which it thinks might have influenced voters and turned them against the ruling party.

Led by Adityanath, the BJP had been trying to make up for the beatings it had taken over the past few days. The defections of many leaders including cabinet ministers and MLAs to the Samajwadi Party had put the BJP in a tight spot. However, the party knows it can’t sit idle if it is to win the polls. The public call seeking to know who the SP candidates are, may be seen as a fall out of this concern.

Samajwadi Party keeps BJP waiting

Samajwadi Party leaders believe that by knowing the names of the candidates, the BJP might hark on polarising voters in case the candidates are from the Muslim community. Anyway, the SP-RLD combine has already named 13 Muslim candidates for 58 western UP seats, which would go to the polls in the first phase.

SP is so sure that the BJP would launch a bid to polarise voters in the name of faith, and would not give in.  And so, names of all the candidates are yet to be announced. The BJP, however, want to know the full list, come what may. Akhilesh Yadav has thought a step ahead this time and would not give in to the jibes and calls made on social media.