BJP eyes Yadav votes in UP through Padma Vibhushan to Mulayam

A dent in the Yadav support base will weaken BJP's main electoral rival in India's biggest state, a political expert said

Conferment of the Padma Vibhushan award to Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav by the BJP government at the centre barely a year ahead of the next general elections appears to have been prompted by the saffron party's desire to make a dent into the electorally influential 'Yadav' community, which is considered to be the vote bank of the SP, in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, according to the political experts here.

The name of Mulayam in the list of the awardees surprised even the SP leaders here, who, apparently realising the BJP's strategy, sought to portray the award as a 'humiliation' to the SP patron, who died after a protracted illness a few months back, and instead demanded that he be conferred with 'Bharat Ratna'.

''It is no secret that the SP derives its success in the elections through the en masse support of the Yadavs in UP.......a dent in this support base will certainly weaken BJP's main electoral rival in India's biggest state which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha and by conferring the prestigious award on Mulayam the BJP has tried to send a message to the community that it values its contribution to the country,'' said a Lucknow based political expert while speaking to DH here on Thursday.

It might be recalled that Mulayam had heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and wished him success in the 2019 LS polls during a speech in the Parliament. BJP also claimed that a section of the Yadav community had voted for the saffron party in UP in the 2019 LS polls.

''We have never been against the Yadavs.....during the recent meeting of the BJP state executive committee, rich tributes were paid to Mulayam by the party leaders....Modi had also taken part in the program organised on the occasion of the death anniversary of popular Yadav leader Hari Mohan Yadav at Kanpur last year,'' a UP BJP leader said.

The SP leaders, however, said that Mulayam should be conferred the Bharat Ratna. ''Padma Vibhushan is below the stature of Mulayam, who was a national leader...its humiliation,'' said senior SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya.