3 tests will decide if Opposition's ready for UP polls

This year promises to offer ample opportunities on the electoral turf to the SP, BSP and Congress to get their act together and play the “semi-final” of sorts before the “final match” two years later, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.

At the height of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Uttar Pradesh last month, with incidents of violence and arson resulting in the deaths of more than 20 people, Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati, while expressing solidarity with the protesters, advised her party cadres to refrain from hitting the road. 

Instead, she urged them, as members of the “disciplined party”, they should peacefully hand over their memorandum to the district administration rather than indulge in violent demonstrations as other outfits were doing. 

This was in contrast to the response of other opposition parties in UP, such as the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, whose top leaders openly supported the protesters and even went to meet the families of the deceased, while blaming the Yogi Adityanath government and UP Police for killing “peaceful and innocent” protesters. 

While the state government is due to complete three years in office in March, the Opposition is still fragmented and yet to find common ground to corner the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which is started working on its Mission 2022 UP elections.

This year promises to offer ample opportunities on the electoral turf to the three main opposition parties to get their act together and play the “semi-final” of sorts before the “final match” two years later.

This year, UP will witness three electoral contests in the form of state panchayat polls, apart from elections to the vacant Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Parishad (legislative council) seats.

Panchayat elections

The three-tier panchayat elections will be held towards the end of the year. The election process involves 75 district panchayats, 821 kshetra panchayats, and more than 58,550 gram panchayats.

According to the tentative calendar, the panchayat polls have to be completed and the vacant seats in these panchayati raj institutions filled before December 25 this year.

All the major political outfits, especially the BJP, Congress and SP, are expected to field their candidates in these elections and consolidate their positions in the hinterland before the assembly polls.

Rajya Sabha polls

There will be election to about 10 Rajya Sabha seats, which are scheduled to fall vacant around November. Of the 31 Upper House seats in the state, the BJP, SP, BSP and Congress currently have 15, 9, 4 and 2 members, respectively, with an Independent, former SP stalwart Amar Singh, accounting for one.

The prominent leaders whose Rajya Sabha term will be over this year include BJP member and Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, SP General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav, and Congressman P L Punia.

Going by the current strength of the parties in the UP assembly, the BJP is likely to win nine of the 10 seats, while the SP is in a position to win one.

Meanwhile, ticket hopefuls in the BJP have started lobbying for Rajya Sabha nomination.

Vidhan Parishad polls

The Upper House of the state legislature will witness election to nearly 11 seats, comprising teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies, in April. 

Since the ruling BJP lacks a majority in the Vidhan Parishad, the party is eager to increase its strength in the body so that it becomes smoother for the Adityanath government to push through various bills because the current dominant SP makes every effort to impede legislation. 

The panchayat polls, to be conducted by the state election commission, will be most keenly watched because there will be direct voting by the electorate. 

“Our party has firm belief in democracy and treats all the elections as democratic fests and participates with full fervour. The people of the state have continued to repose faith in the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the trust factor will only become stronger,” state BJP spokesperson Chandra Mohan said. 

On the issue of anti-CAA protests, he said the sentiment of the public was in favour of the BJP and the party was confident that the people would once again deliver a positive verdict for the Adityanath dispensation. 

While the SP and the Congress have actively backed protests against the citizenship Act, the BSP’s support has been largely vocal; the party has asked its workers not to hit the streets