Congress, BSP face acid test in the first phase of polling
BJP hopes for a win in state
The first phase of UP assembly elections will be held in 55 assembly seats on Wednesday. It will be crucial for the Congress, which is desperate to make a comeback and rule the state.
For Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati, this year’s poll will decide whether she will have another term in office or not. The phase may also test the strength of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the land of Rama and decide whether Mulayam Singh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party (SP) can make a comeback in the state.
Polling will be held at Barabanki, Faizabad, Gonda, Baharaich, Siddharth Nagar, Shravasti, Balrampur, Ambedkar Nagar and Basti.
The Congress could secure only three seats in the 2007 assembly elections.
Its performance in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections in which it had won 22 seats in the state had surprised political analysts. Of the 22 seats won by the party, six were from the districts which go to the polls on Wednesday.
The stakes for the Congress Lok Sabha members from these districts, namely Beni Prasad Verma, Jagadambika Pal, Kamal Kishore, P LPunia, Nirmal Khatri and Vinay Pandey are very high in view of the fact that party ticket had been distributed mostly on their recommendations.
For some leaders, the stakes are even more as the party has given ticket to either their sons or wives. “These leaders not only have to ensure wins for the members of their families but also help other party nominees sail through,” said a senior Congress leader here.
Beni Verna’s son Rakish Verma is facing a tough battle at Daybreak in Barabanki district. Jagadambika Pal’s son is sweating it out in Basti.
Similarly, Congress MP from Baharaich Kamal Kisor’s wife Poonas Kishore is in the fray from the Mathis seat.
Verna’s dominance in the party has been resented by old party workers. At many places, the minister was booed and had to leave the stage. His stature in the party depends on how the Congress fares on the seats where the “Kurtis’ population” is sizeable.
The first phase will also test National Scheduled Caste Commission chairman P L Punic, the former principal secretary to UP Chief Minister Mayawati, who had registered an unexpected victory in the 2009 Lok Sabha poll from Barabanki where Danits are in sizeable numbers. Punic has been criss-crossing the state for the past several months and trying to garner Danits’ support to the Congress.
He has also been taking up the issue of atrocities on Danits during the Mayawati regime. Similarly, Nirmal Khatri and Vinay Pandey have been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring victory for the party nominees in their strongholds.
For the BSP, Wednesday's polling will be crucial as the party had won 30 seats in the 2007 assembly poll from the region.
Several BSP ministers’ fate will be sealed in the first phase of polling itself.
“A repeat performance by the BSP in the region may well pave way for another innings in the state,” a party leader conceded. The polling will be crucial for the SP, for an impressive performance may catapult the party to the seat of power.
