Battling unpopularity, Centre plans to reorganize UP into two states to win next elections

0
1145

Akhilesh Tripathi | India Tomorrow

LUCKNOW–With an eye on polls, the Modi government has decided to divide Uttar Pradesh into two states.

The central government is trying to kill two birds by one stone by executing the division plan. On one side, the Modi government wants to cut Yogi Adityanath to size and on the other, they want to woo people of Western Uttar Pradesh by gifting them a separate state.

Modi government has prepared the blueprint keeping in view the political situation and next year’s elections. The road to the Centre goes through UP and currently, there is a wave against the BJP led government in the state. Modi government in a last-ditch effort to change the political climate has decided to divide UP into two states.

 Prime Minister Modi’s image has taken a hit both nationally and internationally given the poor handling of the COVID pandemic. Even before he could battle it out, his own people have started challenging him. One of the challengers is Yogi Adityanath. He rebuffed Modi when he did not induct former IAS officer and PM’s closest buddy, Arvind Kumar Sharma, into his cabinet.

Modi wanted Yogi to make Sharma deputy chief minister with a home or personnel portfolio. However, Yogi flatly refused. Had he accepted Modi’s demand, he would have become a rubberstamp chief minister.

Sharma had taken voluntary retirement on the instance of Modi. He was later made MLC in Uttar Pradesh. In fact, Modi wanted to use Sharma to control Yogi because he is feeling threatened for the first time. 

Modi does not want to take risks because his chair is at stake. PM is worried about his image. He thinks that after him, Yogi is the only firebrand Hindutva leader in BJP who can save the party. Modi feels BJP might project Yogi as the party’s star campaigner in the next elections. RSS has already dropped hints in this regard. Modi feels that Yogi might become his challenger in the future. And that is why Modi has decided to bifurcate UP into two states. 

PM Modi tried to persuade Yogi, but he did not relent. Even RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale and BJP general secretary BL Santosh visited Lucknow to persuade Yogi, but to no avail. 

Later, Modi sent the BJP general secretary in charge of UP Radha Mohan Singh to meet Yogi. UP Governor Anandi Ben Patel and Assembly speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit also met Yogi. 

Singh came with a special message from Modi. Different speculations are making rounds about the message PM tried to convey through Singh. It is being speculated that he was given a mission to prepare the ground for the division of UP.

Sources said the decision to bifurcate UP will be taken in the monsoon session of the parliament. Yogi could be chief minister either of Purvanchal or Western UP. This way, Yogi will be the chief minister of a smaller state and he will not be counted among the tallest leaders of the party. 

Presently, Yogi is the chief minister of the biggest state with a 403-member Assembly. Since BJP is creating a wave to retain power in the next elections, they are trying to project Yogi as the poster boy of Hindutva. BJP also has plan B to throw Yogi out of the party. It is worth noting that BJP even sacked Kalyan Singh at one point in time.

 Modalities are being worked out for the bifurcation. It will be only known after the division how many districts will go to Purvanchal. This time, BJP is serious given the changing political equation. BJP is facing a tough situation in Western UP. The party is fighting a battle of survival in Western UP. 

Last time, BJP had cashed in on the Muzaffarnagar riots to win a majority of seats in Western UP. But now people are unhappy with the party which is worrying the top brass. Muzaffarnagar had become highly polarized after the 2017 communal riots. Spilt was wide open between Hindus and Muslims. 

But the cracks seem to have been filled because of farmers’ agitation. Hindus and Muslims are once again living like brothers in western UP.  That is why BJP is worried

Feeling the heat, BJP is thinking that making Western UP a separate state will help in placating the voters. It will help the party in the 2024 general elections. 

Carving out a separate state from the UP has been a popular demand for a long time.  BJP is playing a big game by reorganizing Uttar Pradesh. BJP is also worried because popular sentiment is that Samajwadi Party will form the next government in UP.

Everything is fair in politics and BJP is using this mantra to win polls again.  Party knows the division of the state will sound death knell for SP. Akhilesh Yadav will never become the chief minister of western Uttar Pradesh because Yadavs do not have numbers. Currently Rashtriya Lok Dal is the biggest party in western UP. In 2017, Jats had voted for BJP. Muslim votes had got divided. As a result, BJP got a majority of the seats.

However, Jat and Muslim voters have again switched over to RLD due to the farmers’ agitation. Azad Samaj Party led by Chandrashekhar is fast spreading its tentacles in western UP. Dalits are unhappy with Mayawati, which is helping Chandrasekhar to consolidate his position. BJP enjoys the support of Rajputs only.

SP is very strong in Purvanchal and they can give a fight to BJP. Akhilesh is the MP from Azamgarh which falls in Purvanchal. The division of UP will not hurt only Yogi but will put the future of Akhilesh at stake.

 (Translated from Hindi into English by Mr Ishfaq-ul-Hassan.)

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here