Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh: The scent emanating from the ‘attar’ (perfume) emanating from manufacturing factories in this town, often compared to France’s Grasse and known as India’s ‘Perfume City’, has acquired the scent of elections. Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav is trying to avenge the loss of his wife Dimple Yadav in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and wrest control of the party from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The constituency, located on the banks of the Ganges, faced a tough election campaign and amid whispers of resentment within the party, Akhilesh invoked his father and party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav to capture the sentiments of voters. I am trying very hard to evoke a sense of sympathy. He first visited this town almost 24 years ago.
“Netaji (Mulayam) brought me here for the first time and he was appealing to you (voters) to make me a politician.” He won the LS by-election here in 2000. Akhilesh, who has started active political activities since then, said this at an election rally.
“At that time, I didn’t even know how to make a political speech, but I got the support of you (the people),” he said.
Apparently, Akhilesh realizes that the contest will not be easy. In the 2019 LS polls from here, Dimple narrowly lost to Subrath Pathak of the BJP. The BJP re-nominated Pathak, who had likened the contest to a cricket match between India and Pakistan. “Voters of Kannauj will see an election contest like India and Pakistan,” Pathak said after Akhilesh filed his candidature from here.
The caste balance in the constituency, known as an SP stronghold, made the race even. While the constituency has 450,000 Yadav and Muslim voters, more or less supporting Akhilesh, there are also 250,000 Brahmin and 200,000 Dalit voters, many of whom voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party last time. was voting for. SP held the seat from 1998 to 2014.
Moreover, the BSP is trying to thwart Akhilesh’s gay election pitch by fielding a Muslim from this seat, clearly aiming to attract Dalit and Muslim votes. OBCs also have a big presence here and Messrs. Akhilesh and Pathak are working hard to gain their support.
“Muslims are generally supporters of the SP,” says Imran, a resident of the town, sitting in a roadside tea stall. “BSP will also get Muslim votes,” countered Shukat Hussain, another resident sitting there.
Dalits seem divided. Many of them pledged support to the BSP, while some expressed support to the saffron party. “We have benefited from Prime Minister Awas Yojna. We support the Bharatiya Janata Party,” said a resident of Kajitla Dalit colony.
The SP is facing internal dissent here as some of the influential Yadav leaders who were expelled from the party after Dimple’s defeat in 2019 have since joined the BJP. Moreover, being a Brahmin himself, Pathak is sure to have support from the community.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is also facing internal conflicts here. Local Bharatiya Janata Party leaders said Mr. Pathak did not have good relations with some powerful Brahmin leaders who were also the party’s nominees. “Pathak had a heated exchange with Kanahiya Dikshit, an influential Brahmin leader,” said a local Bharatiya Janata Party official.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed a joint election rally with Akhilesh and AAP leader Sanjay Singh here. Almost all the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party addressed the election rally in Kannauj. It will be interesting to see if Akhilesh will be able to avenge Dimple.
issued May 11, 2024, 11:09am IST
