The Samajwadi-Congress pre-election tie-up is proving to be a gamechanger, with rivals BJP and BSP playing catch-up.
Barely a month ago, the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections seemed like a cakewalk for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which was riding high after its ‘strong’ response to the Uri attack in September and the avowedly ‘pro-poor’ move to demonetise currency in November. The Samajwadi Party, in contrast, appeared on the verge of a split, with the young UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav embroiled in a battle with his uncle Shivpal Yadav and father Mulayam Singh Yadav. The Congress seemed clueless after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s khat sabha came to an abrupt end.
Then came the SP-Congress alliance in January, and the electoral wind changed direction completely. A classic game changer, the alliance began dictating the campaign, with the BSP and BJP reduced to playing catch-up and scrambling for ways to counter the alliance.
Polls in UP have for a long time now been four-cornered contests, which this pre-poll alliance has altered. In the past, parties would win polls with less than 30 per cent of the vote. The SP, for example, swept UP in 2012, winning 224 of the 403 seats, with only 29 per cent of the votes, just three percentage points more than the runner-up, Bahujan Samaj Party. In 2017, the minimum threshold would end up being over a third of the total vote, in the range of 35 per cent, for any party or combine to get a majority. The alliance has a higher chance of reaching that threshold than any individual party, unless there is a strong wave in its favour. And given that the fervour for Modi is not as strong as it was in 2014, it will possibly work to the alliance’s advantage in 2017.
VIEW FROM THE GROUND
Esta historia es de la edición February 27, 2017 de India Today.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición February 27, 2017 de India Today.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
The Politics Of Reservation
Caste Quotas Have Become The Most Fractious And Polarising Issue In Election 2024, With The Potential To Influence The Final Outcome
BACK IN ACTION
Besides making a thrilling comeback with Tipppsy, Deepak Tijori is working on pushing the boundaries with new projects
THE POWER OF PATIENCE
A steady approach has helped badminton player Lakshya Sen secure a spot in the upcoming Paris Olympics
Great Balls of Fire
The sport of PICKLEBALL is set to get a boost in India with the launch of the World Pickleball League here
Man of Many Ideas
Vanya Vaidehi Bhargav questions simplistic notions of Lala Lajpat Rai's politics in this well-researched book
THE HINDU NATIONALIST
Janaki Bakhle's Savarkar and the Making of Hindutva is a deep dive into the creation of the ideologue
LOVE CONQUERS
IKKA's third album Only Love Gets Reply brings together bigwigs like Diljit Dosanjh, Badshah and Karan Aujla, among others
The Great Indian Village
Everyone's favourite OTT show, Panchayat, is back for a third season on Amazon Prime Video. Expect a lot of laughs
VISUAL CONSTRUCTS
CLASSICS OF MODERN SOUTH ASIAN ARCHITECTURE ARE PORTRAYED IN THESE VOLUMES
TROPICAL TROPES
Tropical Modernism, an exhibition at the V&A, London, looks at the adoption of this architectural style in post-independence India and Ghana