NDA allies eye Uttar Pradesh turf, but is BJP willing to accommodate them?

While the BJP is busy figuring out its own permutation and combination in Uttar Pradesh, its allies are also eying, what they call their legitimate share, in the political landscape of UP.

While on one side, the BJP is planning to go all alone, along with its own strategic alliances with local parties which it feels will get them crucial votes, on the other, its NDA allies are thinking on a different path.  

Rashtriya Lok Samta Party [RLSP], Republican Party of India (Athawale) [RPI-A] and even Lok Jan Shakti Party [LJSP] are also eying some piece of the electoral pie in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP so far has not evinced much interest in these proposal but allies are quite keen that BJP not only enters the tie-up in UP but also distributes seats proportionate to the caste strength of these parties.

It's not that the BJP is completely averse to having local tactical alliance with smaller, caste-based parties, which adds to their vote base as well as chances of winning specific seats. Take the example of Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party [SBSP], which is a small outfit but with good clout on Dalit and backward voters in eastern UP district. Not only this, even the Apna Dal MP, Anupriya Patel, made it to the Modi cabinet with BJP's eyes fixed on Kurmi votes.

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But will the BJP be willing to give away few seats to its allies who don't have good presence in UP barring a substantial chunk of their respective caste in several pockets of Uttar Pradesh.

When ex-BSP leader, Swami Prasad Maurya, now in BJP, had left the BSP, one of the parties he was in touch with was Upendra Kushwa's RLSP. Both Upendra Kushwaha and Swamy Prasad Maurya come from the same Koeri community, with Kushwaha being their leader in Bihar, while Maurya in UP. There were several rounds of meeting and Maurya's induction in RLSP was considered a done deal till it went sour at the last moment.

In UP, the Kushwaha-Koeri community is approximately 10 per cent of the demographic and had this deal happened, it would have given RLSP a foothold in Uttar Pradesh. However, Swamy Prasad Maurya was not the only leader, RLSP tried to woo in UP. The other person they were after was Babu Singh Kushwaha of NHRM fame. But, even that venture of RLSP didn't turn out successful.  

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Kushwaha had resigned from BSP after he was accused of involvement in the murder of two CMOs in UP. Currently, he is heading Jan Adhikar Manch. But despite this, Upendra Kushwaha has grand plans for himself and his party.

A leader in RLSP said, "We are in the process of identifying around 100 seats which has a strong Kushwaha presence and we are trying to get as many local leaders into the party fold as possible. First we will do this exercise and then we will talk to Amit Shah about seat-sharing arrangement."  

However, he also had a word of caution for the BJP: "If the BJP doesn't listen to us then we will be forced to fight on around 100 seats on our own."  

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Now the question is: will the BJP even listen to RLSP when they are staring at their political nadir?

"Absolutely not," said a senior BJP leader. According to him, RLSP leader Upendra Kushwaha is more or less facing political obscurity after winning two seats in Bihar and now his party has been split into two. To think that BJP national president Amit Shah would even listen to his demand for seats in UP, is laughable.

But RLSP is not alone in eyeing Uttar Pradesh. Minister of state, Ramadas Athavale of RPI-A, feels that his party has a fair chance and if the BJP enters into an alliance with them, then they have a fair chance at power in UP.

Athawale says that they were a powerful party and in 1967 they had 16 MLAs and during Charan Singh's time they had four central ministers. According to him, "We hope that the BJP will give us 25 seats to us so that all the votes which go to Mayawati will come to us. BJP will gain by 90 per cent with this association and we will gain by 10 per cent."

But what if the BJP doesn't go for the alliance?

Athawale says that they have a game-plan ready for that scenario as well. He says, "If there is no alliance, then we will contest all seats where we think we are powerful and in rest of places we will support the BJP".

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He further adds that he has already spoken to Rajnath Singh, Kalraj Mishra and Keshav Prasad Maurya and he is about to have a meeting with Amit Shah, where he will enunciate how this alliance will be a win-win situation for both parties.

Even the LJP is not behind in seeking seats from the BJP in Uttar Pradesh and they feel that if a tactical alliance is done then it will be beneficial to both groups. According to reports, BJP has already had a meeting with LJP office-bearers and very soon a decision in this regard will be taken.

Meanwhile, the BJP is not too enthused about this zealousness of its allies. According to a senior UP BJP leader, "these parties don't have a base in UP. We have already seen what LJP and RLSP is capable of during Bihar elections. They may be hopeful but I don't see party president acquiescing to these requests".

He, however, conceded that given the caste calculation and importance of UP election, they will try to prevail upon these parties to act as allies and not as "vote katua".