Assembly elections have begun in Uttar Pradesh from 10th February. All political parties have been campaigning in full swing, targeting their trusted vote banks. But the Samajwadi Party Supremo Akhilesh Yadav changed his approach this time. Rather than wooing his trusted-traditional Muslim vote bank, he has adopted a ‘secular’ approach this time.
Has Akhilesh Yadav sidelined himself from his traditional vote bank or there is another game plan?
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Samajwadi Party: A Party for the Muslims
Muslims constitute around 19-20% of the demography of Uttar Pradesh. And since independence, the whole game was planned around the consolidation of this 19% vote. Major political parties of Uttar Pradesh like the Samajwadi Party and the BSP have tried to consolidate Muslim votes in their favour. This was done sometimes by talking about their issues and sometimes by fielding candidates following caste lines. Senior leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav were prominently seen at the Iftar parties, wearing caps.
The Samajwadi Party fielded 78 and 57 Muslim candidates in the 2012 and 2017 Assembly Elections respectively. In 2012, out of 78, 43 were elected whereas in 2017 only 17 candidates got elected from 57 candidates.
In 2012, when the Samajwadi Party formed the government there were 69 Muslim nominees getting elected to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. This was the highest number of Muslim MLAs being elected to the UP Assembly since Independence.
Akhilesh’s changed Game-Plan
Since Akhilesh Yadav took over the reins of the Samajwadi Party the functioning of the Party has slightly changed. A party that thrived on Muslim votes has picked up a secular approach.
Akhilesh Yadav has been boasting about his dream in which he saw Lord Krishna. Akhilesh Yadav has been silent about the issues of Muslims of the state despite being the supremo of a party that was always referred to as a ‘pro-Muslim’ party.
So the question is, Will Akhilesh drop his ‘Politics of Appeasement’ or Samajwadi Party has no counter to BJP’S ‘Hindutva’.
The sources associated with the party have claimed that Akhilesh Yadav was worried about the BJP and its Hindu Vote bank. Akhilesh Yadav in the campaign wanted to wipe out the image of being a pro-Muslim party. Hence Akhilesh Yadav took a decision, a very difficult one at that. He pushed back some major Muslim and Yadav leaders of the state to portray an image of inclusive politics. Akhilesh Yadav before the campaign started to make sure that, this time the Samajwadi Party will not prominently reach out to the Muslim-Yadav Votebank. But rather this time the party will focus on bringing the other deprived sections of the society on their side and Akhilesh will develop a whole sum image of ‘Pichdon ka Neta’. His recent alliance testifies for the same.
The reason behind the shift
The Samajwadi Party has assessed that there is no alternative factor and hence they are working according to that. Akhilesh Yadav has been seen taking the soft- Hindutva stance, boasting about Lord Krisha, offering Prayers at the temple of Bhagwan Parshuram. And had wisely distanced himself from approaching the Yadav- Muslim belt. Yadav this time is not shied away from showing off his Hindu credentials. This all has been done by the leader as well as the party because they have a fear of counter polarization. Akhilesh knows that if this time he outreaches to Muslims, the majority will walk away from his party and in turn will favour BJP.
The situation is quite communal in Uttar Pradesh and if they want to form a government, Samajwadi Party need to keep its Muslim- Yadav discourse in check and Akhilesh knows it well.
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The Muslims have no one to stand for
The electoral picture here seems very clear that the ruling BJP has set the agenda and all the political parties following that. BJP had made sure that all parties remain on the secular line and there is no appeasement politics.
But the Samajwadi Party is the only option available to the Muslim community in the state. Because the surveys from the past election show that the Muslim Communities vote as a block and to the same Samajwadi party. In the last elections, 75% of the Muslim vote was cast for the SP-Congress alliance. The Muslims this time, say the analysts will vote for that party that can oust the BJP out of power. And hence they discard the Owaisi factor.
This is the reason Akhilesh Yadav has been silent over their issues since the CAA NRC protest and has been focusing on Dalit, OBC problems in the state.
The BSP, A party not in the picture in this election has remained silent on Muslim issues. The BSP in recent times has shifted from Dalit- Muslim politics to Dalit- Brahmin engineering. The Congress under the leadership of Priyanka Vadra has been focusing on women issues. They have also planned their campaign and manifesto around the same issues. Thus, The Samajwadi Party seems assured of getting the Muslim community votes in the upcoming polls. Also, since BJP with its social engineering mechanism has gathered all the sections of the Hindu community towards their side, the Samajwadi Party is dependent on the Muslim community to save their deposits.