UP elections 2022: Small players may have big impact in phase 7
India Today
Small players may have a big impact in phase seven of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
In 13 of the 54 assembly seats going to polls in the seventh and final phase of the protracted assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Patels — an influential other backward classes (OBCs) group — are believed to have a sizable presence.
Rohania, an assembly seat that’s part of the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, happens to be one of the aforementioned 13. Here, the Bharatiya Janata Party ally, the Apna Dal (S), is in a direct contest against the Samajwadi Party ally, the Apna Dal (K).
Both factions of the Apna Dal, OP Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party, and the Nishad Party are among the smaller outfits tasked with lending strength to their respective alliance partners in this phase. And all of them have their pockets of influence.
The emergence of influential social groups like Rajbhars, Nishads, Patels, and similar upwardly-mobile OBC groups have given rise to such smaller parties claiming to represent their aspirations. In the election season, they are the ones courted by the major players.
Many of them have sided with the SP this time. The Nishad Party and the Apna Dal (S) have stayed with the BJP.
Of the nine districts voting on March 7, Azamgarh, Mau, and Jaunpur are considered Samajwadi Party strongholds. Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Bhadohi, Mirzapur, and Sonbhadra, on the other hand, have solidly backed the BJP in recent elections.
Bahubalis of Uttar Pradesh | India Today Interactive
