UP polls: BJP seeks to consolidate position, garners support of multiple smaller parties

Several smaller parties extended support to BJP on Wednesday in a bid to strengthen the Yogi Adityanath-led government's position ahead of the Uttar Pradesh elections. At a ceremony in Lucknow, the Manav Samaj Party, Soshit Samaj Party, Prithviraj Janshakti Party, Bharatiya Suheldev Janata Party, Musahar Andolan Manch Garib Party and Pragatisheel Samaj Party declared their support for the saffron party. Addressing the media, UP BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh expressed his gratitude to these outfits for joining hands with his party at this crucial juncture. 

"At this point in time, the country needs Modi ji and Yogi ji. Because we have to provide pucca houses, toilets, Ayushman card and electricity connection to all poor. We have to provide health and education facilities for free," Singh stressed. This assumes significance at a time when BJP leaders are also addressing social seminars all over the state to solicit the support of various sections of society. 

High-stakes battle for Uttar Pradesh

In the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, BJP won a whopping 312 seats in the 403-member House, whereas BSP could win only 19 seats. On the other hand, the SP-Congress alliance failed to bear fruit as it could win in only 54 constituencies. While this was seen as a mandate for PM Modi as BJP had not declared any CM candidate, Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath was a surprise pick for the post. Though some BJP leaders made conflicting statements over Adityanath's future as the Chief Minister, PM Modi put rest to all speculations by lauding UP's governance model during his successive visits to the state.

Leaving no stone unturned for the 2022 Assembly election, BJP appointed Dharmendra Pradhan as its election in-charge and Anurag Thakur, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Shobha Karandlaje, Annapurna Devi, Saroj Pandey and Vivek Thakur as the co-in-charges. Meanwhile, Sanjay Bhatia, Sanjeev Chaurasiya, Y Satya Kumar, Sudhir Gupta, Arvind Menon and Sunil Oza as the organizational in-charges of Western UP, Braj, Awadh, Kanpur, Gorakhpur and Kashi. On September 24, BJP formally announced an alliance with the Nishad Party and Apna Dal(S).

While Apna Dal(S) president Anupriya Patel is the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, the Nishad party chief's son Praveen Kumar Nishad won from Sant Kabir Nagar in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket. Moreover, Adityanath expanded his Council of Ministers on September 26 by inducting Sanjeev Kumar, Dinesh Khatik, Paltu Ram, Dharmvir Prajapati, Dr. Sangeeta Balwant, Chhatrapal Singh Gangwar and Jitin Prasada. Providing representation to the SC, OBC and Brahmin community in the government is being perceived as a significant move ahead of the UP polls.