This is the season of yatras in Uttar Pradesh with the BJP opting for yatra after yatra in the hope of catching the voters’ attention.
The Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal are also taking the yatra route to the Assembly polls. The BJP, which began its UP journey with Mr Advani’s yatra and followed it up with two yatras, led by Rajnath Singh and Kalraj Misra, has not got expected success till now.
Mr Advani’s yatra, which “touched” UP in the first phase, remained a non-starter with absolutely no public response. Later, the two yatras of Mr Rajnath Singh and Mr Kalraj Misra also failed to yield the desired results and the yatras were talked about only in the party’s press releases. The impact at the ground level was negligible.
The BJP is now taking the water route to success and plans to launch “jal yatras” in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Assembly elections, to highlight issues and problems related to rivers and people who live by the side of rivers. These yatras, the dates of which are to be finalised later, will be led by senior party leader Uma Bharti.
The purpose of the jal yatras, apparently, is to tap the 27 per cent population, comprising mainly of Nishad, Mallah, Kevat, Bind and other OBC communities that live along the riversides and their livelihood also depends on the rivers.
The BJP has put Ms Bharti in-charge of the jal yatras and hopes to cash in on her OBC following to win over the population that lives along the rivers. The Samajwadi Party yatras, atop the Kranti Rath, however, has met with stupendous success in the state. Led by state SP president Akhilesh Yadav, the yatras have attracted youth in large numbers and if the party can translate the crowds into votes, it could emerge a winner in the coming elections.
The Congress too is planning to launch yatras in November with Mr Rahul Gandhi at the helm of affairs. The party’s Sandesh Yatras, last year, had to be abandoned midway due to lack of response.
Incidentally, earlier this year, the Congress had also announced two “Jal Yatras” in the state—Ganga Jal Yatra and Yamuna Jal Yatra. The yatras, along the river routes, were to be led by Ummed Singh Nishad, husband of late Phoolan Devi. The Congress Jal yatras, for reasons not known, could never take off.
The Rashtriya Lok Dal, not to be left behind, had also taken out ‘Su-raj yatras’ last month and though the party claimed complete success, these yatras could not even register their presence among voters.