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In the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi became particularly hostile in Uttar Pradesh. In a string of meetings across the 13 constituencies of Purvanchal Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and UP Chief Minister Adityanath levelled several changes against the I.N.D.I.A bloc leaders Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav.
These included: “changing the Constitution to drop reservation to please their vote bank, dividing the country, indulging in vote jihad, Pakistan praying for their success”. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was blamed for the “electoral failure of I.N.D.I.A bloc” and BJP leaders added that “the two ‘shehzadas’ (princes) will leave for foreign holiday after June 4.”
Even the “return of Lord Ram” and the magnificent Ram Mandir in Ayodhya did not figure much in the speeches of the saffron brigade.
Meanwhile, for the I.N.D.I.A bloc leaders Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav the focus remained sharply on asking people to “vote out BJP to save the Samvidhan (Constitution) from which flows all rights and dignity of citizens”.
The two continued highlighting the rampant unemployment, cattle menace, farmer loan waiver, leaking of examinations papers and other such day to day issues in their speeches getting an instant connect.
The dust has finally settled on the almost two-month long election campaign. In the 7th and final phase 13 seats of Purvanchal in Uttar Pradesh will vote on June 1. This includes the VVIP constituency of Varanasi from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third term.
Three of Modi’s Cabinet colleagues are also seeking reelection. Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary is seeking the sixth term from Maharajganj,Union Minister of Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey is expecting a third term from Chandauli, and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partner and president of Apna Dal-Sonelal (AD-S) Anupriya Patel is in the electoral battle in Mirzapur for the third time and is the Union Minister of state for commerce and industry.
Of these 13 Lok Sabha seats, nine are with the BJP, two with Apna Dal-S and two with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). While BJP are Apna Dal is keenly fighting to retain their ground, the BSP is noticeable due to its strategy of facilitating the saffron party by choosing candidates which have the potential to harm the prospects of the I.N.D.I.A bloc candidates.
Of the 65 Vidhan Sabha seats in this phase the BJP holds 43. The NDA partners AD-S has two MLAs, Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) has three MLAs and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj party has four. The SP has 11 MLAs and the Congress and BSP have one each.
In the absence of any all-India issues or a visible political wave, caste equations have become most crucial once again. The I.N.D.I.A bloc unity born out of the shared consciousness of PDA - Pichda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak (Backward, Dalit and Minorities) is proving vital.
Even the unprecedented heat wave didn’t deter leaders from addressing three to four public meetings every day, as well as their supporters from braving the heat to attend them. A 45-year old woman had reportedly collapsed and died at SP president Akhilesh Yadav’s public meeting at Ghazipur on May 27 leaving a trail of melancholy.
The star constituency which saw the most high octane campaign was Varanasi. The filing of PM Modi’s nomination was preceded by a mega road show where crowds lined the streets for hours to shower rose petals on him.
Besides Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, CM Yogi, NDA partners like Chandra Babu Naidu, Chirag Paswan, Jayant Chaudhury and a host of other senior leaders and Chief Ministers were in attendance on the day of his nomination.
Despite a band of senior leaders and ministers stationed in Varanasi campaigning door to door, insiders claim that for PM Modi this time things are not so smooth. They cite multiple reasons for this, including the huge success of the I.N.D.I.A bloc campaign, particularly the road show led by Priyanka Gandhi and Dimple Yadav.
The reported bitterness among a section of the priests for ignoring them and supposed neutrality of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Hindu Mahasabha are said to be the other reasons. This has forced Amit Shah to stay put to do some last minute damage control by calling a meeting of religious leaders.
But officially the BJP expresses confidence and declares that PM Modi is in the fight only to increase his victory margin from 4.79 lakh in 2019. The absence of a significant lead for him is likely to raise more dissent within the party and in the saffron brigade it is feared.
In Ghazipur and neighbouring Ghosi Lok Sabha seats, the election is more of a referendum to avenge the custodial death of 5-time Mau MLA 63-year old Mukhtar Ansari. In Ghazipur his elder brother and sitting MP Afzal Ansari is the I.N.D.I.A bloc candidate.
Mau is an Assembly segment of Ghosi Lok Sabha constituency which was the ‘karmabhumi’ of Mukhtar. He had died at a Banda hospital on March 28, 2024, five days after being released from hospital after he complained of vomiting and had expressed fear of being poisoned.
He had been rushed to the Rani Durgavati Medical College hospital in an unconscious state from jail. He had been lodged in the jail since 2005.
The official version of his death was cardiac arrest. However, his family, and the large number of his supporters in Ghazipur, his ancestral home, and Mau do not believe the official version.
During his election meetings Afzal asks those present if they have heard the name of his younger brother Mukhtar Ansari and tells them how he was “murdered” pleading with them to “avenge his death”.
Afzal cites the fact that Mukhtar’s son Abbas Ansari was not released from jail for even a day to attend his father’s last rites. In 2022 Abbas Ansari succeeded his father as the Mau MLA representing the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj party (SBSP). He was immediately put behind bars by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case.
Unprecedented crowds were witnessed at Mukhtar Ansari’s funeral procession at his ancestral graveyard in Ghazipur. Violating the promulgation of CrPC 144 thousands of common people, of all religions and castes, of Ghazipur and neighbouring districts had jammed the narrow streets to have a last glimpse of their leader and offer a handful of ‘mitti’ (earth) at his grave.
Mukhtar’s elder brother Afzal mentioned the spontaneous outpouring of love and regard for his younger brother by the people at his election meetings. He pleaded with them to “send a strong message to those who murdered him in jail”.
In Ghazipur, which does not have a single BJP MLA amongst its five Assembly segments, Afzal faces the party candidate Parasnath Rai, a teacher and a close aide of Jammu & Kashmir Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha, who lost the 2019 Lok Sabha election to Afzal. Afzal was contesting on a BSP ticket, and won by a margin of more than 1.19 lakh votes.
In Ghosi, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) President Om Prakash Rajbhar’s son Arvind Rajbhar is the NDA candidate fighting ‘the ghost of Mukhtar Ansari’ as well as the I.N.D.I.A bloc candidate Rajiv Rai from the Samajwadi party.
Adding to his woes is infighting within his party. A section of SBSP broke away on the last day of campaigning to launch the Suheldev Swabhiman party, led by rebel Mahendra Rajbhar to protest the reported arrogance of the SBSP president and his sons.
In Maharajganj, sitting BJP MP Pankaj Chaudhary is in a direct contest with sitting Congress MLA from Pharenda and I.N.D.I.A bloc candidate Virendra Chaudhary. The BSP has put up Mausame Alam as its candidate, in the hope to dent the Muslim support to the I.N.D.I.A bloc.
In Gorakhpur, CM Adityanath holds sway making it relatively easy for Bhojpuri superstar and Gorakhpur sitting MP Ravi Kishan Shukla. Shukla is facing SP’s I.N.D.I.A bloc candidate Kajal Nishad, a Bhojpuri actor.
A large section of people in Gorakhpur are reportedly upset with Ravi Kishen for “abandoning Gorakhpur after a grand victory in 2019”. The caste arithmetic is in favour of the I.N.D.I.A bloc’s Nishad candidate as the constituency has a sizeable population of the Nishad (boatmen) community, as well as the Yadav and Muslims, who can tilt the balance.
Neeraj Shekhar, son of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekar, eight-time MP from Ballia, is the BJP candidate. He is facing SP’s Sanatan Pandey in Ballia.
Pandey, the I.N.D.I.A alliance’s Brahmin candidate, expects to mobilise the Brahmin, Yadav and Muslim votes as well as votes from a section of OBC and Dalits. However, here again BSP has fielded Lallan Singh Yadav, in the hope of splitting the Yadav votes.
Adding to this is infighting in the district BJP unit as the sitting BJP MP Virendra Singh Mast had been dropped in favour of Neeraj, who locals charge of disappearing once he wins.
Sitting MP Anupriya Patel is also feeling the heat in Mirzapur from where she is seeking a third term. The I.N.D.I.A bloc has fielded a BJP rebel and sitting MP from Bhadohi Ramesh Chand Bind who had been denied a ticket by the saffron party.
Locals allege that Patel favours only her people from her Kurmi caste for government schemes, while the predominantly OBC and tribal population have been left high and dry. There is much resentment against her party’s sitting MP in Robertsganj (reserved) seat where Pakaudi Lal Kol has been facing anti-incumbency for not being accessible to the people.
He has been replaced by his daughter in law Rinki Kol. The I.N.D.I.A alliance candidate is another BJP rebel Chotelal Kharwar who had won this seat in 2014.
While there is a perceptible mood for change in these 13 seats of Purvanchal which goes to polls on June 1, it remains to be seen how much of it converts into votes.
