Up Cauldron Boils Over With Multi-Cornered Contests
The haze of political dust over Uttar Pradesh cleared to some extent on the final day of filing of nominations on Wednesday to reveal a picture that shows the largest state heading for a four- or even five-cornered contest in most seats.
The United Front (UF), for all practical purposes, stands dismantled in the state with the partners fighting it out among themselves. A pall of gloom descended on the Congress when it became clear that neither Sonia Gandhi nor Priyanka would contest the elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), however, are all set to take advantage of the discomfiture of their opponents.
The worst off, of course is the UF. For the first time in seven years the Janata Dal and the CPI stood up to Mulayam Singh and demanded their share of seats. But the Samajwadi Party president announced the names of SP nominees from the very seats that these two parties had sought hoping that like the other times the central leadership of these parties would accept his diktat. But, the Janata Dal leadership of HD Deve Gowda and Sharad Yadav refused to kowtow to Mulayam Singh and the Janata Dal ultimately decided to file nominations for 39 seats most of which will also be contested by Samajwadi Party candidates.
In case of the CPI, it was the state leadership which finally managed to assert itself. When the central leadership of the party failed to clear the seats, the state committee sent it a resolution stating it wanted to contest seven seats and after a tussle succeeded in making the highcommand accept its demand.
The CPI(M), however, proved to be the most servile. They initially staked claim to seven seats but Mulayam unilaterally announced his candidates for five of these. The two for which he did not were Kanpur and Varanasi. But the CPI(M) district committee wrote to the state leadership saying that it did not want to contest Kanpur where it would not be able to make much of a difference. Instead it asked for Lalgunj and Varanasi. But with no clearance from the state and central leadership the party is left with just one seat- Varanasi.
The Janata Dal and the CPI clash on one seat, Machlishahr, but the CPI may withdraw its candidate in favour of the Janata Dal candidate.
With UF allies set to clash in more than 40 seats, the biggest looser could be none other than Mulayam Singh.
The Congress here had pinned its hopes on either Sonia Gandhi or Priyanka contesting from Amethi. Had the media not predicted that Sonia Gandhi was to contest from Amethi, it wouldnt have mattered but now all the excitement has evaporate, a party office-bearer told Business Standard. If they (Sonia and Priyanka) were not planning to contest then what was the point in their campaigning? asked another. He predicted the Congress would now loose Amethi, Rae Bareli and Sultanpur.
What remains to be seen is whether the Congress alliance with the Bharatiya Kisan Kamgar Party (BKKP) would make any difference to the fortunes of the two parties and whether the Congress would be able to re-enter western UP with help from the BKKP. However, the Congress has no following in the BKKP areas and the latter none in the rest of UP.
In contrast to the rag-tag UF and disheartened Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has chalked out a proper plan and pursuing it with single minded devotion. Mayawati has filled her nomination from Akbarpur, a safe seat for the BSP. Thus, with Kanshi Ram from Saharanpur in the west and Mayawati from the east, the two have managed to cover the state.
The BJP, on the other hand, is keeping a close watch on its opponents moves.
When Mulayam Singh switch over to the Sambhal seat, Chief Minister Kalyan Singh immediately offered the seat to D P Yadav, the dreaded don of western UP. Yadav had left the BSP to join the SP a few days back with the obvious assurance that he will get the ticket from Sambhal from where he won the last.
D P Yadav will now be the Loktantrik-BSP candidate from the seat.
The BJP, on its part, has been harsh with the Samata Party and has not granted it the promised Shahabad seat.
The Loktantrik Congress has meekly surrendered its seats to the BJP. Atal Behari Vajpayee held reasonably successful public meetings and the partys mood is upbeat. It has sorted out all its problems so far as allies are concerned.