Lucknow: Electoral battle for the capital of the heartland state of Uttar Pradesh intensified after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Aam Admi Party candidate and film actor Javed Jaffri launched a mass contact programme on a day BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi filed his nomination papers following a massive road show on Thursday in Varanasi, around 300 kilometres from here.
Modi’s decision to contest from Varanasi, considered one of the holiest cities by Hindus, is expected to bring rich dividends for his party in a state that sends 80 lawmakers to the lower house of India’s Parliament.
For the BJP, which is fighting a make-or-break election after a ten-year stint in the opposition, winning Uttar Pradesh is critical. Most opinion polls in recent weeks have projected a comfortable win for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, riding a “popularity wave” in favour of the right-wing nationalist leader.
On Thursday, Modi’s rival and Congress leader Rahul stepped up his campaign by staging an impressive road show in Lucknow, choking the state capital’s main artery during peak-time rush. Rahul’s show started on Thursday evening from Colvin Talukdar school, an institution built by British governor Lt Auckland Colvin in 1889.
After crossing through the city centre of Hazratganj, the road show ended at Lucknow airport later in the evening. At Burlington square near the imposing Victorian state legislature building, thousands of Congress supporters stood to see Rahul who sat on the roof of a Land Cruiser along with his party candidate Rita Bahuguna Joshi. BJP president Rajnath Singh is contesting against Joshi. Rahul’s SUV drove past an elaborately decorated horse-buggy a Congress supporter had arranged for the road show.
Earlier in the day, Bollywood actor Jafri sought votes from the employees of Life Insurance Corporation, a public sector insurance giant and market leader. Jafri said his party will oppose full-scale FDI in the insurance sector, an issue close to the heart of workers’ unions. Addressing the employees during lunch time, he sought to counter the image of him being an outsider saying: “I am an Indian and I can fight election from anywhere.” In a an interview with Gulf News later, Jafri strongly denied his candidacy was “sponsored” by Rajnath Singh to divide the city’s 400,000 Muslim vote, an allegation that exposes complexities of electoral politics in Lucknow and the wider state.
Modi wave
At a time when TV news channels are unanimous in predicting a comfortable win for the BJP in UP, opinion on the ground is divided down the middle. While some journalists, residents and political observers see a clear edge for Singh, many say the “Modi wave” is failing to make an impact in Lucknow and in several parts of Uttar Pradesh. They claim complex caste and religious equations will overshadow gains BJP is hoping to make from Modi’s popularity.
“I have covered elections in UP since 1967 and have seen four ‘waves’. In 1971, there was a massive wave in favour of Indira Gandhi who got a massive mandate. Seven years later, there was a clear anti-Indira wave when Congress lost to Jan Sangh. In 1980 again, Indira was voted back to power. However, this time if there’s a strong current in favour of Modi, there’s an equally strong tide against Modi,” explained senior journalist Haseeb Siddiqui who thinks Joshi will beat Singh. Caste and religious equations are in Joshi’s favour, Siddiqui says, adding that Muslims, Brahmins and Pahadis or migrants from the hills will vote for her. Another journalist with a TV channel, however, said Modi’s popularity is not limited to cities and even rural areas voters are gravitating towards his party.
Lucknow, a city known for nawabs, kababs and old-school Muslim tehzeeb or etiquettes has been a stronghold, said another journalist, citing the election of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. This happens, he claims, because Muslim votes gets divided on sectarian lines due to competitive politics of the city’s religious leaders. Recently, Singh called upon several Muslim leaders and sought their blessings in front of TV cameras, a gesture Modi has avoided. “But all this is not going to work this time,” added Siddiqui.
A Muslim youth leader, however, told Gulf News that his group forced Rahul to change the route of his road show and “we won’t allow Rahul to campaign in old Lucknow because Muslims don’t want Congress”. But Congress leaders said the route was changed due to “security reasons”.
Lucknow votes on April 30.
