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PM's push to reach out to most backward

Last Updated 09 February 2017, 19:46 IST

 To give a last-minute push to the BJP’s prospects in western Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a rally in Bijnor on Friday.

Modi wants to reach out to the most backward castes (MBC) in and around the city,  considered as BSP’s bastion.

Vardhaman Degree College was chosen as the venue of Modi’s address to impact a total of 15 constituencies of Bijnor (8 seats) and Saharanpur (7 seats), with both districts also witnessing an undercurrent of communal polarisation due to earlier riots, said local BJP poll managers.

Polling on Feb 15

The polling in these two districts will take place in the second phase on Feburary 15.
What the BJP is looking at is consolidation of other than Jatavs among Dalits and most backward castes other than of Yadav OBCs, which the party believes had voted for Modi in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP had won three seats in the Assembly polls in the two districts, but went on to clinch both the Lok Sabha seats of Saharanpur and Bijnor, largely owing to a sharp Hindu-Muslim divide post the 2013 communal riots and the MBCs looking up to Modi for their empowerment.

Amit Pal, who manages the Guru Gobind Singh dhaba in Jansoth, said his community,  which mostly does menial agricultural jobs, is expected to vote primarily for Modi, but believes that the BJP’s position is nowhere near its resounding performance in the general elections.

BJP insiders said one of the main reasons of their defeat in previous state polls was damage inflicted by erstwhile Mahan Dal, which was led by Keshav Prasad Maurya.

The Dal represented MBCs like Keshav-Maurya, Saini, Pal, Kashyap, a migrant community called ‘Bengali’ and Prajapati and have dedicated votes of about 30,000 in each of the 15 seats.

A local RSS functionary, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in Bijnor, said, “The BJP lost the elections in Dhampur and Chandpur seats of Bijnor just because of Mahan Dal candidates running away with MBC voters”.

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(Published 09 February 2017, 19:46 IST)

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