Campaign blitz in Uttar Pradesh precedes curbs

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[google-translator]

The announcement of the Uttar Pradesh assembly poll schedule and model code of conduct on Saturday was preceded by a campaign blitz by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath in the state over the last few months. Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, too, has been on campaign trail since October.

Even before Election Commission announced a ban on road shows and physical rallies until January 15 in keeping with strict Covid-19 protocols, Akhilesh had put on hold his proposed rath yatras from Ayodhya that was scheduled for January 9.

During the campaign blitz by the BJP leaders, series of big-ticket projects were launched in UP, including Kushinagar and Noida international airports, Purvanchal and Ganga Expressways, Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, Saryu Nahar project, Gorakhpur fertilizer factory and Meerut’s sports university.

From connecting with farmers to unveiling fleet of electric buses for several cities or inaugurating the metro rail project in Kanpur, Modi was virtually everywhere, travelling to UP frequently to seek “aashirwad (blessings)” of the masses for a second consecutive BJP government in the state. He also connected virtually (through video conference) with beneficiaries of various government schemes in UP.

Besides development, he set the political discourse in UP, describing Yogi as “UPYOGI (useful)” and terming the red cap wearing Samajwadi Party (SP) as “red alert”. The Samajwadi Party (SP) is widely seen as the main challenger to the BJP.

As experts pointed out, there is good reason for the BJP’s reliance on Modi.

“The BJP in UP can be divided into two phases. Pre-Modi and post-Modi. So, in 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP got 17.5 per cent and 22.17 per cent votes. In the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party’s vote share went up drastically, 42.63 per cent in 2014 and 49.98 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In the 2012 UP polls, the BJP had a vote share of about 15 per cent and in 2017, this vote share went up to 39.67 per cent. That’s the kind of impact he has had on the party’s electoral fortunes and it is only natural that his party is relying a lot on him in these elections too. That explains the frequent PM visits in the run-up to the polls,” said professor Manuka Khanna of the political science department of Lucknow University (LU).

The BJP, which had launched six Jan Vishwas Yatras in UP from December 19, had planned a formal conclusion of these yatras with a mega rally by PM Modi in Lucknow on January 9. An estimated 10 lakh people were expected in Lucknow.

“That rally, as it is clear already, isn’t happening now. So we will fall back on virtual rallies and door-to-door connect campaigns, but we will have Modi and Yogi Adityanath’s messages delivered to the people both virtually and through door-to-door format. We are working out newer campaign formats as directed by the election commission,” a party leader said.

Modi, who is also the Lok Sabha MP from Varanasi in eastern UP and on whose charisma the BJP is betting on yet again, had started arriving in UP since October 20 when he inaugurated the Kushinagar international airport. He inaugurated the 341-kilometre Purvanchal Expressway on November 16.

On December 7, Modi inaugurated a fertilizer factory, AIIMS and a lab in Gorakhpur. On December 13, he dedicated the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi. On December 18, he was back laying the foundation stone of 594 km-long Ganga Expressway at Shahjahanpur which would be the biggest in of India. On December 21, Modi addressed a rally with an all-women audience in Prayagraj, whose blessings he sought to win the elections. On January 2, he laid the foundation stone of a sports university in Meerut. Thus, he covered all the regions across the state.

Nearly all the projects that Modi and Yogi inaugurated or laid the foundation stone of have wider connect across several districts.

Take the inauguration of the 9800 crore Saryu Nahar project on December 11. The Nahar project is expected to help farmers and people in at least 6200 villages across nine districts —Bahraich, Balrampur, Gonda, Siddharthnagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur and Maharajganj, all east UP districts. Here, Modi had reminded the people how anyone who quenches someone’s thirst is remembered before cleverly urging the masses to “bless” the BJP.

“We never forget anyone who offers water to quench people’s thirst and I am sure that now that your parched fields would get water, your blessings would help us work with greater enthusiasm,” he had said then.

As for the Ganga Expressway, it would pass through Meerut, Hapur, Amroha, Bulandshahr, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao, Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Prayagraj, connecting 519 villages and will cut down travel time. It was during this launch that he coined the phrase ‘UPYOGI (useful)’ for chief minister Yogi Adityanath while slamming the opposition for neglect of both ‘vikas and sanskritik virasat (development and cultural heritage), a line that all BJP leaders have been taking since.

“Virtually all the projects that Modi inaugurated or laid the foundation stone have the capacity to influence people’s lives in a big way,” said Irshad Ilmi, a political observer.

Adityanath was active too, packing several poll meetings besides attending to his work as chief minister till late in the night.

“We wouldn’t know when he would sleep because irrespective of how late he went to bed, he was up and about early morning. His energy is boundless,” a UP minister said about Adityanath’s packed schedule. From attending party meetings, accompanying top leaders, addressing party campaigns, Yogi Adityanath has been fuelling the party campaign.

“Modi ji is the party’s lifeline. And in UP, there is hardly any assembly constituency or district for which projects worth several thousand crores have not been announced. Whether it is the so far neglected Sonbhadra where a medical college has been sanctioned, where Har Ghar Nal Yojana (tap water scheme in each household) is going to be a reality, increasing of old age, differently abled and widow pensions, to lowering power tariffs, launching wellness centers he has been catering to all the sections of the society. Yogi ji’s energy and his stamina, his honesty and his hard work are amazing,” said UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh.

With Modi in the lead, other top party leaders and Union ministers followed.

“Virtually every day through November-December, we had top leaders connecting with the masses,” a BJP leader said. Union home minister Amit Shah travelled across the state from Lucknow to Kasganj and from Hardoi to Bareilly, from Ayodhya to Hardoi and from Bhadohi to Bareilly – holding roadshows and rallies. Defence minister Rajnath Singh also addressed well attended rallies and so did BJP chief JP Nadda.

For his part, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had hit the campaign trail on October 13 when he launched Vijay Rath Yatra on a Benz bus coverted into a rath from Kanpur. Ahead of the yatra, the SP released a video in which Akhilesh was seen touching the feet of his father and party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Subsequently, Akhilesh’s rath yatra drew impressive crowds at various places across the state, including Hardoi, Gorakhpur, Ghazipur, Banda and Jaunpur.

The SP chief also held public meetings at various places, both separately and atop his motorized chariot.

One of the most talked about yatras by the SP chief was his virtual non-stop all-day, all-night rath yatra on the entire 341-kilometer long Purvanchal Expressway just after it was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November.

The yatra on the expressway was taken out to reiterate the claim that the Purvanchal Expressway was conceived and launched by the SP government. Several sitting MLAs from BSP and few from the BJP have joined the Samajwadi Party, which had opened its doors to all small parties. The BJP which is also wooing smaller, key players, too, got few SP lawmakers to join the ruling party.

“I don’t think anyone drew more crowds than Akhilesh ji and they came spontaneously to hear the SP chief. The BJP is afraid as it has read the writing on the wall and that is why it has formed alliance with investigating agencies,” said Samajwadi Party leader IP Singh. IP Singh was referring to the recent income tax raid on some SP leaders. The most talked about income tax exercise was one on the Kannauj-based businessman Piyush Jain from where the tax agency claimed to have detected massive currency notes and gold. The BJP quickly claimed that the businessman was behind the launch of Samajwadi ‘ittra’ (fragrance) though Akhilesh later held a press conference in Kannauj claiming that the businessman was raided as he shared a similar name to that of SP MLC Pushpraj Jain who lived in the same Chipatta locality as Piyush. On the day, Akhilesh held a press conference in Kannauj, the income tax raided Pushpraj Jain too. Akhilesh claimed the exercise was carried out to hide embarrassment. The BJP and the SP also sparred on twitter over the income tax raids.


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