NDA allies field BJP leaders to counter SP caste coalition

Strategy aimed at leveraging satraps’ Nishad, Kurmi support bases

New entrants from the Opposition parties as well as leaders associated with the BJP are being fielded by it on the symbol of its two OBC-based allies — the Nishad Party and Apna Dal (Sonelal) — as the saffron party crafts a strategy to capitalize on their Nishad and Kurmi support bases to counter the Samajwadi Party-led alliance’s caste mobilization.

Of the four candidates declared so far by the Nishad Party, three are associated with the BJP while one had recently joined the saffron party. The BJP had lost three out of these four seats in 2017.