Ghaziabad by-poll: All parties focus on caste-based equations in last leg of campaigning
Parties have also intensified door-to-door campaigning, their leaders said. Ghaziabad assembly segment will go to polls on November 20
Hardly a week left for voting in the Ghaziabad assembly by-polls, different political parties have intensified their campaigning while also micromanaging caste-based equations.
The Election Commission of India had firest announced the polling day as November 13, but it later postponed it to November 20 on account of various religious festivals.
The Ghaziabad assembly seat is pinned to witness a key contest among 14 candidates and they include candidates of the major political parties such as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), among others.
The BJP, with its huge organisational setup, is going all out to win the seat, which has about 461644 voters, according to the voters’ list, revised till the end of October.
BJP leaders said the additional week that they got from the postponing of polling has allowed them to fine tune their strategy and rope in senior leaders for campaigning.
“During this week, we are intensifying our door-to-door contact campaigning in different localities. The extra week has given us an opportunity to rope in senior leaders for campaigning. Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brijesh Pathak will hold a public rally in Behrampur on November 14 and this will be followed by a major roadshow in Vijay Nagar by chief minister Yogi Adityanath,” said Ashu Verma, BJP’s assembly seat convener.
{{/usCountry}}“During this week, we are intensifying our door-to-door contact campaigning in different localities. The extra week has given us an opportunity to rope in senior leaders for campaigning. Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brijesh Pathak will hold a public rally in Behrampur on November 14 and this will be followed by a major roadshow in Vijay Nagar by chief minister Yogi Adityanath,” said Ashu Verma, BJP’s assembly seat convener.
{{/usCountry}}Party sources also revealed that they are micromanaging caste-based equations to garner the most votes.
{{/usCountry}}Party sources also revealed that they are micromanaging caste-based equations to garner the most votes.
{{/usCountry}}According to the BJP, the assembly seat has about 73,000 brahmins, 40,000 Vaish, 50,000 Muslims, 70,000 dalits and about 20,000 belonging to other backward communities, among others.
{{/usCountry}}According to the BJP, the assembly seat has about 73,000 brahmins, 40,000 Vaish, 50,000 Muslims, 70,000 dalits and about 20,000 belonging to other backward communities, among others.
{{/usCountry}}“Every party tries to manage the caste-based equation, but our focus is on connecting with voters from all castes. Several of our leaders who are from specific castes are engaged in campaigning within their communities and the ground work will be intensified in the last one week,” Verma said.
{{/usCountry}}“Every party tries to manage the caste-based equation, but our focus is on connecting with voters from all castes. Several of our leaders who are from specific castes are engaged in campaigning within their communities and the ground work will be intensified in the last one week,” Verma said.
{{/usCountry}}The office bearers of the SP, a part of INDIA bloc, said they too have intensified campaigning.
However, the party has no big names or leaders coming in to campaign except for the recent visit by party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who arrived and met INDIA bloc leaders at a farmhouse in Ghaziabad on November 5.
Yadav in his speech specifically targeted the BJP, and accused the party of getting the poll date delayed to prevent migrant workers, who had returned to their homes in Uttar Pradesh for Diwali and other festivals, from voting.
Samajwadi Party too they have their own estimates about how the caste-based votes will play out. According to SP, there are about 175,000 dalit and Muslim voters in the assembly segment, and about 100,000 brahmin and vaish voters. They also estimate that voters in the “pichda, dalit and alpsankhyak” group (backward, dalit and minorities) number between 250,000 to 300,000.
“Every party has its equations set for the last week of campaigning. We are concentrating on door-to-door campaigning to increase the turnout. If the PDA turnout is on the higher side, it will become a decisive factor in our favour. The urban settlements have more of BJP voters, but their turnout will be much less as voting day, November 20, is falling on a weekday and most voters would have to go to work,” said Faisal Hussain, district president of the SP.
During the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the SP and the Congress had campaigned extensively on the formula of PDA. The BJP was banking of winning a majority of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh but had to contend with just 33 seats while the SP and the Congress made huge inroads and secured 37 and six seats, respectively.
The BSP, meanwhile, is focusing on grassroots campaigning and said no senior party leaders such as party chief Mayawati or others are expected to come to Ghaziabad for campaigning.
“We are intensifying our door-to-door campaigns and also public meetings are also chalked out to connect with more voters. Some of our regional leaders may also join campaigning in this final week,” said Dayaram Sain, district president, BSP.
Political experts said the additional one week that parties got this time will prove crucial in turning votes.
“Every party will try to cash in on the extra week and will intensify their campaigning accordingly. The parties with organisational strength and resources will definitely have the advantage. Caste equations internally are chalked out by different parties and they also design their campaigns accordingly,” said KK Sharma, professor and head, history department, CCS University, Meerut.
