LUCKNOW: 2 crucial political parties in Uttar Pradesh catapulting twin Muslim confronts to centrestage over 24 hours Congress’ Imran Masood raised as AICC secretary along with BSP’s Shah Alam encouraged as governmental party leader at UP meeting — has trained the spotlight consolidation of the minority vote at run-up to meeting polls.
Experts, however, see this as a possible cause to split Muslim votes involving Samajwadi Party, BSP and Congress, substantially to the advantage of BJP which confronts an aggressive resistance, mostly in Samajwadi Party.
The two Masood and Shah Alam were assigned larger duties by Congress and BSP respectively Thursday.
BSP chief Mayawati’s proceed on Thursday to sack its veteran OBC leaders — Lalji Verma along with Ram Achal Rajbhar — that was able to acquire Katehari and Akbarpur gathering chairs in Kanshi Ram’s political crucible, Ambedkarnagar, beating the 2017 BJP tide has been seen with fascination in saffron positions, which will be working overtime to keep its OBC vote-bank.
BJP is especially wooing the powerful OBC band, Rajbhar, to blunt some belligerent ally-turned-rebel, Suhaildev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) main Om Prakash Rajbhar, that has been hobnobbing by Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) president Shivpal Yadav for quite a while.
Imran Masood on the opposite hand occurs to be a crucial Muslim cause of Congress, basically within communally sensitive west UP.
An former vice-president of UP Congress Committee, Masood contested against Nakur assembly chair in Saharanpur in 2017, however dropped to BJP’s Dharam Singh Saini with a narrow margin of 4,000 votes.
He was given a ticket by Congress to competition away from Saharanpur from 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Masood, nevertheless, dropped to SP-backed BSP candidate Haji Fazlur Rehman.
Masood’s marketing as Congress national secretary, whined, prompted a sharp reaction from BJP quarters by country president Swatantra Dev Singh accusing the grand old celebration of embracing it”genuine ideology” by means of a pioneer that had threatened to kill PM Narendra Modi in a rally throughout 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Similarly, BSP leader Shah Alam aka Guddu Jamali is also a prominent Muslim leader from Azamgarh, ancestral chair of SP main Akhilesh Yadav.
A two-time lawmaker in Mubarakpur meeting constituency, Alam had contested Azamgarh at 2014 Lok Sabha elections, however, dropped to SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Muslim voters are traditionally sided with a political party which possibly poses a strong challenge to BJP.