Journalism of Courage
Rain played the spoilsport at the Samajwadi Partys first election rally in eastern UP on Sunday. SP national president Mulayam Singh Yadav and the partys Muslim face Azam Khan,who were to be the star attractions at the Azamgarh rally,failed to turn up as the chopper carrying them could not land because of bad weather.
In spite of the persistent showers,however,a good crowd had turned up at the ITI ground and was addressed by second-rung leaders.
It was also meant to counter the Congress. Since the 2009 Lok Sabha elections,Digvijaya Singh,AICC general secretary in charge of UP,has been frequently visiting Azamgarh and nearby districts to reach out to Muslims.
Recently,Rahul Gandhi had visited the SP strongholds of Etah,Badaun and Mainpuri and drawn good crowds. For the SP,it was necessary to reassure the followers in those districts and a show of strength in Azamgarh was considered the best way.
Prominent leaders from Azamgarhs adjoining districts of Ballia and Ghazipur had come for the rally. They included former ministers Ambika Choudhari,Narad Rai and Ram Govinda Choudhari,besides Ballia MP Neeraj Shekhar,who is son of former PM Chandrashekhar,and Ghazipur MP Radha Mohan Singh. Party spokesman Mohan Singh was present too.
In eastern UP,Azamgarh has been a strong anti-Congress platform for long. Former PM Charan Singh was closely associated with Azamgarh and he had first forged the Muslim-Yadav combination in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Much later,it became a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party.
But the SP alienated the Muslims after Mulayam Singh tied up with Kalyan Singh on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections,and the BSP grew. The sudden emergence of a local outfit,Ulema Council,which took up the cases of youths facing terror cases and fielded several candidates,further damaged the SP.
The Ulema Council has since lost its popularity,however,faring poorly in the districts panchayat elections last year. The Congress has been trying to fill the vacuum while the SP hopes to revive its old links with the Muslims of the region. But after the washout of todays rally,the SP will now have to plan another.
