UP Election Bullet: Shivpal Nurses Hopes of Contesting in Polls

A wrap-up of all the happenings from the poll-bound state.

(Photo: The Quint)

1. ‘Will Contest Elections’, Says Shivpal Yadav, Sidelined After Akhilesh’s Victory

Shivpal Yadav seems confident of contesting the assembly elections despite getting majorly sidelined post Akhilesh’s big win in the Samajwadi tussle. His name was added to the list sent by Mulayam Singh Yadav to Akhilesh on Tuesday night.

The Chief Minister, who is also the party Chief now, is expected to accommodate all the members suggested by father Mulayam Singh Yadav. Many of these are also said to overlap with his own list.

Shivpal Yadav has been involved in a tussle with Akhilesh for a long time, in which he even garnered the support of Mulayam. However, with the Election Commission’s intervention, Shivpal stands isolated.

While the father-son made peace, Shivpal is left alone in murky waters. His name was missing in the earlier list sent by Mulayam to Akhilesh. However, Mulayam Singh Yadav later revised the list, striking Shivpal’s son’s name and replacing with his instead. Shivpal has been nominated on the Jaswantnagar constituency that he represents.

Source: NDTV

2. Why The BJP Should Worry About SP-Cong-RLD Alliance

As the BJP pads up for the all-crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, there is a sense of déjà vu gripping its HQ at 11, Ashoka Road, New Delhi.

Bitter memories of trouncing at the hands of a last-minute grand alliance in Bihar in 2015 that saw rivals Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar joining hands is back haunting the BJP strategists as Akhilesh Yadav puts final touches to another Mahagathbandhan in Uttar Pradesh.

For one, Akhilesh Yadav is reborn politically after the Election Commission decisively ruled in favour of his claims over the cycle party symbol.

Akhilesh has now put all the ills plaguing his five-year-rule, including deteriorating law and order – the main campaign plank of BJP – behind him. He can now easily claim his “hands were tied” for five years and ask voters to focus on the development work he has done.

In private, BJP leaders admit that having won the cycle race, Akhilesh is starting with a “clean slate”.

It is too late in the campaign for BJP to announce a chief ministerial candidate and the only option – acceptable to all in the party – would be to throw their lot behind Home Minister Rajnath.

Source: News18

3. BJP Needs to Brace Itself for the East Wind Called Akhilesh Yadav

The BJP better wrap up warm, for there is an East Wind coming. And it is called Akhilesh Yadav.

On Tuesday, as westerlies swept into Delhi, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad indicated that the next challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP would come from the east of New Delhi, rising perhaps from the shores of the Hooghly and gathering storm over the Sangam.

Ghulam Nabi Azad’s announcement of an alliance between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh has not just indicated the direction of the wind in 2017. It has also defined the contours of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. 

Aware of its limitations and a shrinking base, the Congress has realised that it can remain relevant in UP only by hanging on the coattails of the Uttar Pradesh chief minister.

Source: Firstpost

4. After Sealing Deal with SP, Congress Keeps List of 160

With the formal announcement of its pre-poll tie-up with the Samajwadi Party (SP) expected within the next 24-36 hours, the Congress is giving final touches to its list of candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

The Congress has prepared a list of 160 candidates though it is hoping to get 80-90 seats.

The idea behind keeping a comprehensive list ready is to ensure that the alliance does not get stuck on the choice of constituencies.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s camp has indicated that it is willing to leave 115 of the total 403 seats for the Congress, the Rashtriya Lok Dal of Ajit Singh and the Krishna Patel faction of the Apna Dal.

Source: Hindustan Times

Also Read: NTR in 1995, Mulayam in 2016: How Political Ambitions Fuel a Coup

5. The Ongoing Internal SP Dispute Will Work in BSP’s Favour: Mayawati

The BSP chief Mayawati said that her party will form a majority government in the upcoming UP polls, citing the party’s slogan “Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhaya” (For the gain of many and for the welfare of many).

Mayawati said that the ongoing tussle within the Samajwadi Party will work in BSP’s favour. She called their fighting political drama and said that Mulayam claimed Ram Gopal was colluding with the BJP chief.

The Mulayam-Amar Singh relationship is well known. Congress has lost its base in UP.

She said that when the BSP government forms, she will not build monuments and during the previous tenure of her party, there were several infrastructural advancements in the state.

After the government is made, the law and order situation will improve, income and employment will be generated for the poor and the daily wage labourers. 

Source: ETV UP

Also Read: Why ‘Beti’ and ‘Bahu’ Are Important in Uttar Pradesh Politics

6. Mulayam Singh Yadav Bows to Son Akhilesh, Hands Over Wishlist of 38 Candidates

A day after the Election Commission's verdict installed UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav as the president of the Samajwadi party, Mulayam Singh Yadav surrendered to the new reality.

In a public declaration of his acceptance of Akhilesh's ascendancy, Mulayam handed him a list of around 38 candidates he wants accommodated as SP candidates, without any rider.

Akhilesh’s close advisors also say that the CM will not be aggressive or vindictive toward his father, but intelligently accommodative towards the rival faction, beginning with his father Mulayam Singh Yadav.

This will include Mulayam's daughter-in-law Aparna, from the Lucknow Cantonment seat. Shivpal Yadav, however, does not plan to contest or be part of the election campaign any more and his son Aditya could be given the ticket from Jaswantnagar in Etawah.

Source: The Times of India, Economic Times

7. ‘Behenji Ko Aane Do’: BSP Embraces Social Media to Woo Voters

With political parties going all-out to woo voters in UP, BSP chief Mayawati does not want to be left behind in the race. Along with campaigning in the midst of voters, BSP has also decided to make its presence felt on social media.

The BSP is leveraging social media to project Mayawati as someone who boost the law and order situation, education and employment opportunities.

Usually, Mayawati says that her voters are Dalits from poor backgrounds who do not follow the political debates on news channels. She also used to shy away from social media. But this time around, BSP has taken its poll battle to the social media sphere.

(Read the full story on The Quint)

8. Expelled, BSP MLA Claims Maya Sought Rs 8cr for Ticket

A day after his expulsion from BSP, its Sahihabad MLA Amarpal Sharma claimed party chief Mayawati had demanded Rs 8 crore from him to contest from the seat again.

Sharma also declared he would now fight the polls as a Congress candidate, saying he had reached out to the party for a ticket and had been immediately accommodated. 

Congress confirmed Sharma had joined but did not say if he would be the party's candidate from Sahibabad.

Sharma made the allegations against Mayawati in public, at a news conference he called at his Rajendra Nagar office on Tuesday, that was attended by a loyal band of supporters.

Bribes from candidates, he claimed, were the only subject discussed at BSP meetings. 

Sharma was expelled by BSP for "anti-party activities".

Source: The Times of India

9. A Dozen Clerics are the Face of BSP’s Muslim Outreach

In its campaign to woo Muslims, the BSP has presented more than a dozen clerics to vouch for it before the community.

They are taking part in the BSP’s campaign to reach out to Muslims in most seats in western and central UP, while a religious teacher from a Lucknow-based seminary too has offered his support.

Muslim clerics are seen as influential enough to sway the community’s vote, who account for nearly 18 percent of UP.

It is a constituency the BSP hasn’t tapped as well as it would have liked in the past, with Muslims wary particularly after the BSP’s previous alliances with BJP.

In 2014, the BSP failed to get an endorsement by Jama Masjid’s shahi imam, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, because it did not meet his demand for a clarification about future alliances.

Source: Indian Express

10. UP Witnesses Increase of 18 Lakh Women Voters and 20 Lakh Youth Voters

The political parties contesting in the UP polls will have to especially devise a strategy to cater to the youth and women voters in the state.

The state’s new voter list has seen an increase of 18 million women voters and 20 million youth voters.

T Venkatesh, the UP Chief Election Officer released the new voters list on Thursday, showed a great improvement in the number of women voters.

Female Voters Have Increased in Comparison to Male Voters

Earlier, the ratio of female to male voters was 827 to 1000, which has increased to 839 now.

Source: Live Hindustan