Lok Sabha election: Stage set for close contest in western Uttar Pradesh
western Uttar Pradesh’s eight districts – the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the opposition INDIA bloc and the BSP.
All three face challenges in this region owing to the sizable presence of Muslims, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and other backward classes (OBCs) across the eight Lok Sabha seats – Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina (SC), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit – which will go to the polls in the first phase on April 19.
In the 2019 general election, the then SP-BSP-RLD alliance put up a good show and the rival BJP camp could win only three seats – Muzaffarnagar, Kairana and Pilibhit. Five years later, the political situation has changed considerably with the BSP’s decision to go solo. The RLD, a significant player in this region, is now part of the NDA.
If the BJP faces a test of its appeal among the OBCs, most backward castes and a section of SC voters, the SP-Congress alliance has a tough task of keeping Muslim voters united in its favour in different seats of this region. The opposition INDIA bloc is finding it difficult to expand its support base among non-Muslim voters in this region in the absence of both the RLD and the BSP as part of the alliance.
A critical factor is the BSP, which won three seats here – Bijnor, Nagina and Saharanpur – in the 2019 polls. The party is troubling both the NDA and INDIA bloc with its attempts to keep intact its core support base of SCs. The BSP may become a strong contender for Muslim votes by showing its strength among SCs. BSP chief Mayawati
