The state remains pivotal in determining who will form the next government at the centre
There could have been no better photo-opportunity for the Bahujan Samaj Party-Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal gathbandhan (alliance) in Uttar Pradesh than BSP supremo Mayawati sharing a stage with SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav in Mainpuri on April 19, 24 years after the infamous Lucknow guest-house incident when the two parted company. The SP bastion voted on April 23, in the third phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha election, and prior to that BSP leader was in Mainpuri to canvass for Mulayam. Hailing Mulayam as the “asli, vastavik, janam jatiya pichhre varg ka leader (real, original, natural-born backward class leader)”, Mayawati called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “nakli, farzi (false, fraud) backward class leader”, accusing him of co-opting his Modh-Ganchi caste into the backward class list when he was the chief minister of Gujarat.
Mulayam doesn’t exactly need Mayawati to campaign for him in Mainpuri. The SP has won the constituency six times in a row, four times under Mulayam. With Yadavs making up almost 35 per cent of its voters, Rajputs 20 per cent and the Dalits, Brahmins, Shakyas and Muslims forming the other dominant groups, the BJP has never been able to win Mainpuri. Even during the 2014 Modi wave, Mulayam won his seat with a record margin.
What, then, is the significance of Mayawati campaigning for Mulayam in the SP pocket borough? “The Mayawati-Mulayam reunion is a historic moment aligning the leaders of two communities that have been oppressed for long,” says SP national secretary Abhishek Mishra. “The coming together of former rivals has led to the emergence of a powerful vikalp (alternative) in Uttar Pradesh.”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 06, 2019 من India Today.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 06, 2019 من India Today.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
THE AGE OF INFLUENCERS
A TRIBE OF YOUNG, EDUCATED INTERNET WARRIORS IS SHAPING PUBLIC OPINION WITH CURATED VIDEOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
Scoring a Century
Manoj Bajpayee has just acted in his 100th project-Bhaiyya Ji
FRAGMENTED RUINS
A new exhibition at Gallery XXL, Mumbai juxtaposes the artworks of an Indian and a Spanish artist
United by Art
Moments in Collapse, SAHMAT's group exhibition at Jawahar Bhawan in Delhi brings together artworks with politically charged themes
In Her Mother's Voice
Vidya Vox's exuberant new EP, Sundari, is primarily in Tamil as a tribute to her mother
"MURDER, HE WROTE"
Ashutosh Rana and Vijay Raaz shine in JioCinema's Murder in Mahim, a web series based on Jerry Pinto's layered crime novel
FLAGRANT VIOLATIONS
Gujarat sees another major tragedy as businesses flout safety norms and officials look away. This time it's 33 lives lost in a blaze at a gaming zone
THWARTED FRANCHISE
Robertsganj, on the southeastern tip of Uttar Pradesh, is a study in how a coalition of other castes often defeats the aspirations of the majority caste among Dalits-in constituencies reserved for the Scheduled Castes
THE LAST FRONTIER
PURVANCHAL HOSTS THE BIGGEST STAR CANDIDATE IN INDIA: NARENDRA MODI IN VARANASI. THAT MAY BE A NO-CONTEST, BUT CRAFTY CASTE PLAY BY THE SP-CONGRESS POSES A CHALLENGE IN THE OTHER DOZEN SEATS
THE FIGHT FOR POLITICAL CAPITAL
Leading the campaign as non-playing captains or taking the electoral field themselves, a whole range of political players exemplify the churn that Punjab's politics is going through