SP, AAP make a noise, Cong quiet in ‘friendly fight’

Bhopal: An interesting political sideshow is playing out in the largely bipolar electoral tussle in Madhya Pradesh. In an election that more and more resembles a bare-knuckle fight between challengers Congress and incumbent BJP, Congress’s INDIA bloc allies AAP and Samajwadi Party (SP) are vying for a share of the spotlight.Both SP and AAP have announced candidates regardless of their pan-India equations with Congress. So far, intriguingly, there hasn’t been any reaction from Congress on this.AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal has already held rallies in Gwalior, Satna and Rewa while SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav is scheduled to address a public meeting in Semaria constituency of Rewa district on September 27. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister is scheduled to visit Khajuraho the next day.SP has announced its candidates for seven assembly constituencies -- Mehgaon, Niwari, Rajnagar, Bhander, Singrauli, Sidhi and Semaria.The parties of the ‘third force’ in the bi-polar MP electoral arena usually see their chances in Vindhya and Chambal, and to some extent Bundelkhand. It’s the same this time around.Political analyst Girija Shankar doesn’t see any change in the mainstream politics of Madhya Pradesh even as AAP and SP contest on some seats, and BSP – which has been steadily losing its grip in the state – also throws its hat in the ring. “These parties don’t have any organisational set-up in MP. Even Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has been contesting elections in MP for 30-35 years, doesn’t have a sound organisational set-up. Their scattered victories in Vindhya or Chambal or sometimes in Bundelkhand are largely accidental. It’s more due to a candidate, who has domination in the region but fails to get a ticket from either BJP or Congress,” he said.AAP, on the other hand, tries to give tickets to “non-political persons”, who have a good image, but its presence is not so strong as to cause any concern to the big two parties, he explained. “That’s why Congress doesn’t seem to be unnecessarily bothered about SP or AAP contesting the election at some places. On the other hand, BJP would be happy if they contested the election,” he said. Another political analyst Jairam Shukla felt that BJP would suffer the bigger hit if SP and AAP contest. The ‘third force’ -- the electorate that looks for an alternative to Congress – was earlier divided between SP and BSP, but with both these parties becoming more or less redundant in MP politics, this votebase shifted to BJP, he said. “Therefore, in Chambal and Vindhya, where the ‘third force’ has some presence and where AAP is trying to break new ground for itself, it is BJP that may be damaged extensively while Congress will only be partially hit on seats where it has a winning prospect,” he said.“BSP once had 17% vote share in Vindhya in the assembly election and 25% in the Lok Sabha election. It won Rewa Lok Sabha seat three times but now its vote share has dropped to 5% and a large portion of its votes is now going to BJP. As AAP is trying to make its mark in Vindhya, especially Singrauli and 2-3 places in Gwalior-Chambal region, these voters may get attracted towards it,” he explained.“Congress did very well in local elections in Vindhya, Mahakaushal and Chambal regions, which together account for 105 seats. It won Gwalior, Rewa Katni and several other places but somehow they are not trying to consolidate their position in the area while BJP is going all out to win back its voters. Prime Minister Modi has come to the region three times, Amit Shah five times and chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has visited 27 times. I don’t remember any top Congress leader addressing public meetings in the region, except for Priyanka Gandhi,” he said. Asked why INDIA partner SP is contesting in MP, SP media chief for the state, Yash Yadav, said: “The alliance is for 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the strategy is for 2024 only. As of now, we are contesting on all the seats in MP. If the issue comes up for discussion in the coming meetings of INDIA and some agreement is reached, we shall abide by that.”AAP state president Rani Agrawal, who is also the mayor of Singrauli, could not be contacted for comments.Asked if Congress will try to persuade its INDIA partners not to contest the MP assembly election, Congress state media in charge K K Mishra said: “It’s beyond our jurisdiction to talk about affairs of INDIA.”
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