The Bharatiya Janata Party has given a lot of push to party leaders from Madhya Pradesh to campaign in Uttar Pradesh for the ongoing UP assembly elections 2022.
Over 200 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and thousands of party workers from Madhya Pradesh are camping in 12 border districts of Uttar Pradesh for the ongoing assembly elections campaign in UP, according to leaders familiar with the development.
The Madhya Pradesh BJP leaders and workers believe that their performance in the 12 border districts of UP will be a criterion for selection of party candidates in MP for local body elections and the 2023 assembly elections.
These leaders are from 13 MP districts that border UP and some of them have been appointed as campaign coordinators and observers in UP districts, the leaders said.
“The BJP leaders and workers have been sent to neighbouring districts of UP for campaigning as they have better understanding of people as well as issues due to close proximity,” said MP BJP media in-charge Lokendra Parashar.
Another BJP leader said the incentive given is that their work for UP elections would be considered when tickets are decided for Madhya Pradesh assembly elections and local body polls.
“These leaders are working hard to mark their presence among the central leadership that is present in UP, who would also decide MP tickets,” said the party leader quoted above.
More than that, the leader said the outcome of polls in these 12 UP districts would have an impact on elections in the bordering districts of MP.
“We are conscious of the fact that influence of Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in UP crosses over the border to MP.
If the BJP does well in these district, the party’s chances of good performance in 2023 MP elections brightens,” the leader said.
The past election results show that the SP and the BSP have influence in Chambal, Bundelkhand and Vindhya region of MP, which are bordering UP.
In 2008 assembly polls, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won 7 seats in these regions and got about 9 percent votes in MP, a year after the party won elections in UP.
“The BSP rose in Chambal and Vindhya because of the party’s performance in UP.
In 1998, BSP won 11 seats but the percentage of the vote increased in 2008 after the BSP formed its government in UP in 2007.
In Chambal and Bundelkhand, there is a huge competition in getting tickets from BSP.
If the BJP loses UP, the road will be tougher in MP too because anti-incumbency factor is already there,” said Jayant Singh, a political expert from Chambal.
A political expert from Vindhya, Jai Shankar Shukla says the impact of UP elections in Vindhya was visible when the BJP won 24 of the 30 assembly seats in 2018 assembly polls, highest in the past decade.
“It was because of the poor performance in Vindhya, the Congress was not able to get majority as the Congress and the BSP voters shifted to the BJP as there was aggressive campaign by the BJP leaders from UP,” he said.
The BJP is using leaders from MP to address caste issues for UP polls. On Tuesday, home minister Narottam Mishra, a MLA from Datia, neighbouring Jhansi in UP, addressed his community (Brahman) in Jhansi and urged them to vote for the BJP.
“The only party which addresses our issues is BJP. No party cares about us,” he told the gathering.
A former MLA from Vindhya region, Shankar Lal Tiwari is camping in Prayagraj.
“I am interacting with people and holding one-to-one meetings and telling people about historic developments, especially Ram Mandir and Baba Vishwanath corridor,” he said.
MP cooperatives minister, Arvind Bhadoria, who is MLA from Ater, Bhind, in neighboring Kannauj, said, “The party has made me in-charge of the constituency and I am campaigning for the party here.”
He added that many of his supporters are also there to campaign for the BJP.
Bhopal-based political expert, Girija Shankar, said this time a lot of push is being given to MP BJP leaders to campaign in UP.
“The BJP feels that it needs much more marshals to propel its campaign in UP,” he said, expressing surprise that MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has not been used extensively for UP polls till now.
