The bugle for next year’s Lok Sabha elections has virtually been sounded by the BJP and the Samajwadi Party as they locked horns over the VHP’s controversial yatra that was “symbolically” launched in Ayodhya on Sunday.
While the BJP aims to consolidate its Hindu votebank in UP, that sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha, the yatra issue is expected to equally benefit Mulayam Singh Yadav’s SP now in power in the state. The SP hopes its crackdown will help it strengthen its Muslim-Yadav base in the state.
While UP’s Muslims have been voting for Mayawati’s BSP and the Congress as well, besides the SP, the latter hopes the aggressive VHP campaign backed by the BJP and its poster boy Narendra Modi will bring Muslims back into its fold.
The Congress cannot afford to openly oppose the yatra and thus play second fiddle to the SP, as it has been fighting the BJP, SP and BSP simultaneously in state and national elections.
The yatra could well influence Assembly polls in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh that are due later this year, which will witness a straight battle between the BJP and the Congress.