As SP strain shows, BJP again leans on OBCs for Azamgarh, Rampur LS bypolls

Nirahua had contested from the Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat in 2019 as well as a BJP nominee, but lost to Akhilesh – getting almost half of the SP chief’s tally of 60.36% of the votes.

The ticket to Nirahua shows that he remains in the good books of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Ahead of the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, he had released videos supporting Adityanath as CM in 2022 and 2027 as well.

A BJP leader said Nirahua was the natural choice. “He has stardom and is young. He is popular among the youths of eastern UP. Even after losing the election in 2019, he has been active in the constituency and hence people know him.”

Plus, the BJP leader said, Nirahua is also a Yadav, which will get him the support of the community if the SP fields a non-Yadav candidate.

Another BJP leader from Azamgarh said Akhilesh’s huge win in 2019 was only because the Muslims and Dalits voted for him as “he is the son of Mulayam Singh Yadav and he was contesting then in alliance with the BSP”. While Mulayam is now almost out of the picture, the BSP and SP have long parted ways.

The Yadavs form the largest chunk of voters in Azamgarh, numbering around four lakh, followed by Muslims at three lakh, and Dalits at 2.75 lakh.

The BSP has fielded a Muslim candidate, Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali, a former MLA who lost the recent election as an AIMIM candidate. This will also dilute SP support.

In the recent Assembly polls though, the SP had demonstrated its hold on Azamgarh, winning all its five Assembly segments.

From Azam Khan’s stronghold of Rampur, the BJP has fielded Ghanshyam Lodhi, who started his political career with the BJP, moved to the BSP, SP, and has now returned to his parent party.

Lodhi has contested from the Rampur Lok Sabha seat once earlier, as a BSP candidate in 2009, but finished third. He was elected as MLC from the Rampur-Bareilly local authorities constituency in 2016 as an SP candidate. Just before his term expired in March this year, and well in time for the Assembly polls, Lodhi joined the BJP.

Sources said Lodhi’s first demand was a ticket for the MLC polls, but the BJP denied the same.

Muslims constitute the largest group in Rampur, at about 8.5 lakh. The Hindus, around 8.30 lakh in number, include 1.25 lakh Lodhis, 75,000 Kurmis, 80,000 Sainis, 38,000 Pal and around 45,000 Yadavs (all OBCs), apart from upper castes.

In 2014, the BJP’s Nepal Singh, also a Lodhi, had won the Rampur seat with a margin of 23,435 votes.

A BJP leader said they were confident of Ghanshyam Lodhi’s win. “He is an established OBC leader and old political figure of Rampur. The BJP will get OBC votes because of him. As the BSP is not contesting the Rampur bypoll, we are hopeful of getting a majority of the Dalit votes as well.”

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The BJP is also looking keenly at the tension between Azam Khan and Akhilesh. A couple of days ago, the SP chief called on Azam, who was recently released from prison, in hospital. A major source of friction between the two parties is believed to be the Rampur seat, with Azam keen that it be retained by someone in the family.

With Akhilesh said to be holding out, a BJP leader said, “If the SP gives a ticket to somebody outside Azam Khan’s family, that will increase the BJP’s chances of winning Rampur.”

In the recent polls, the SP had won three Assembly segments in Rampur while the BJP had won two.