Smaller parties set to play bigger role in Uttar Pradesh polls

British economist E F Schumacher had found 'small' to be beautiful in terms of economics, but the 'small' is also proving to be beautiful for the main players in the forthcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

The smaller parties, mostly caste-based outfits, are set to play a bigger role in the next assembly polls, which are scheduled to be held in three months time. It is no wonder that almost all major parties have been trying to woo them.

Although there were more than 450 registered smaller outfits in UP, around a dozen of them, which mainly represented 'non-Yadav' OBCs and non-Jatav Dalits, have emerged as important players in the past few years.

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The smaller parties like Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Nishad Party, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), Apna Dal (AD), Peace Party, Mahan Dal and the Janvadi Socialist Party (JSP) have proved not only be spoilers in the game plan of the bigger parties but they have also contributed to the success of the main electoral players whenever the latter allied with them in the polls.

BJP had allied with the AD and the SBSP in the 2017 assembly polls and reaped rich electoral dividends. It virtually swept the eastern UP region with the help of the SBSP, which had influence of the Rajbhar voters, which formed around three per cent of the electorate but were in sizable numbers on over two dozen seats, and the AD, a party of Kurmis, who formed around five per cent of the voters and were deciding factor in 30 to 40 seats.

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BJP has again allied with the AD and though it lost SBSP it has roped in the Nishad Party, which wields considerable influence over voters of fishermen, boatmen community, which are in sizable strength in around two dozen assembly constituencies in the eastern UP region. The SBSP has allied with the Samajwadi Party (SP) this time.

The SP has also allied with the JSP and Mahan Dal. While the JSP represents the 'Chauhan' community, the Mahan Dal represents the Mauryas, Shkayas, and some other OBCs and have support bases among the voters of the community in the eastern and central region of the state.

The SP has also struck a deal with the RLD, which enjoys support of the electorally influential Jat community, whose votes are a deciding factor in around 35 seats in the western UP region.

Congress too has been trying to rope in some smaller outfits. It is in talks with the Bheem Army, a Dalit outfit floated recently by Chandrashekhar alias Ravan and has some influence over the SC voters in a few western UP districts.

The importance of the smaller parties could be gauged by the fact that every big player in the forthcoming polls barring the BSP had been trying to woo them with offers of seats and accommodating their candidates on their election symbols.

"The smaller parties may not have done much in the previous polls in the state...but in a close contest they can turn out to be the deciding factor, especially in close multi-cornered contests," says veteran Lucknow based political analyst J P Shukla.

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