Uttar Pradesh polls: Samajwadi Party forges alliance with former Congress ally 'Mahan Dal'

In tune with its plan to tie up with smaller outfits, the Samajwadi Party has forged an alliance with Mahan Dal for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. On Sunday, former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav was the Chief Guest at the Mahan Dal's workers' convention held at the SP office. Launched in 2008 by Keshav Dev Maurya, it is perceived to have an impact in Rohilkhand and Western UP regions. Mahan Dal claims to have the support of a range of Other Backward Classes such as Mauryas, Shakyas, Khushwahas, Shakyas, Sainis and Kambojs. However, it has failed to make electoral inroads so far. 

Apart from the 2012 UP Assembly polls, it had allied with the Congress party for the 2014 General Election in which it unsuccessfully contested on Etah, Nagina and Badaun- considered strongholds of the Akhilesh Yadav-led party. While Mahan Dal went solo in the 2017 UP Assembly poll separately, it again extended support to Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. For the polls due early next year, Maurya has coined the slogan 'Mahan Dal has decided, we have to make SP government'. 

BJP throws weight behind UP CM

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 Adityanath's stature within the saffron party skyrocketed over the years becoming a star campaigner in all elections, he purportedly attracted ire for the handling of the COVID-19 situation during the second wave. In the last few weeks, BJP leaders have made conflicting statements over Adityanath's future as the Chief Minister. But, PM Modi put rest to all speculations by lauding UP's governance model during his visit to Varanasi on July 15. 

During his interaction with the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana on Thursday, the PM praised the CM for his efforts in empowering the people of UP. Pitching the benefits of having a BJP government at the state as well as the Centre, he took a veiled dig at the politics perpetuated by the likes of BSP, SP and Congress. Moreover, he hailed the state's COVID-19 vaccination efforts and asserted that the people had outrightly dismissed rumours spread by opposition parties.