The reverberations of the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013 were felt far beyond the general election of 2014, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won big in western Uttar Pradesh in 2019 as well. The years of attempted rapprochement between the dominant Jats and the Muslims, spearheaded by Opposition parties, seemed to have borne some fruit at the social level but never quite reached the critical mass it required to supplant the deep saffron sympathies among large swathes of the former in electoral contests.
This time, though, the psephologists are not so sure - the 16 seats here, which go to the polls in the first two phases, are too close to call. Alliance partners have changed, and the BJP must be feeling confident about roping in Jayant Chaudhary's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) at the last moment. It's a crucial piece in the 'Jatland' that is western UP, where the community makes up close to 16 per cent of the population, and are the RLD's core voters. But Dalits (18-20 per cent) and Muslims (28-30 per cent) play an equally key role in poll outcomes in the state's 'sugar belt'. Both the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) have opted for candidate profiles corresponding to these affiliations. However, the entry of Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) as a standalone third pole in the contest could queer the pitch for both the main alliances in specific seats, say analysts.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 29, 2024-Ausgabe von India Today.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 29, 2024-Ausgabe von India Today.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
The Mamata Pushback
The West Bengal Chief Minister Faces A BJP Onslaught On Issues Like Corruption And Women's Safety. Unwilling To Yield An Inch, The TMC Is Building A Narrative That The Saffron Party Is 'Anti-Bengali'
Who Will Win The Mahayuddh?
In Maharashtra's Most Complex Political War Ever, Shifting Alliances Fuel A Gripping Saga Of Power Struggles And Betrayals In The Pursuit Of Votes
Grand Young Master
Seventeen-yearold D. Gukesh has become the youngest player to win the Candidates chess tournament
SPORTING SPIRIT
BADMINTON PLAYER ASHWINI PONNAPPA, 34, IS OFF TO HER THIRD OLYMPICS, THIS TIME WITH A NEW PARTNER, TANISHA CRASTO
PORTRAITS OF A PEOPLE
Etchings by the colonial Flemish artist F. Baltazard Solvyns are getting a new lease of life in an exhibition at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai
Centennial Man
A seminal exhibition of K.G. Subramanyan's works in his birth centenary year at Emami Art, Kolkata takes an imaginative and immersive curatorial approach
Rhythms of Nature
ARTIST AND MUSIC COMPOSER GINGGER SHANKAR'S LATEST SINGLE COMBINES SOUTH INDIAN MUSIC WITH INUIT THROAT SINGING
SEARCHING FOR THE SOUND
Kashmiri musician Faheem Abdullah’s debut album Lost; Found is a collaborative effort
FOUND IN TRANSLATION
With its excellent translations, Songs of Tagore makes Rabindrasangit accessible to the non-Bengali reader
Of Freedom and Friendship
T.C.A. RAGHAVAN'S CIRCLES OF FREEDOM FOLLOWS THREE YOUNG MUSLIMS DRAWN INTO THE FREEDOM STRUGGLE