Perhaps for the first time in Uttar Pradesh's recent electoral history, the prestige of some top national-level leaders, including that of the incumbent prime minister, is involved in a by-election, normally considered infra dig by senior politicians.
The by-election to 11 Assembly and one Lok Sabha seat, to be held on Saturday, involves names which will have any political watcher's eyes popping. The galaxy of A-listers includes prime minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, home minister Rajnath Singh, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Union Ministers Kalraj Mishra and Uma Bharti.
Amit Shah has personally picked every candidate and supervised the entire campaign as this is the first electoral event in UP after he took over as party president.
The by-election is also seen as a referendum on the performance of the fledgling Modi government as also the two-and-a-half-year-old Akhilesh Yadav regime in the state. Interestingly, all 11 Assembly seats were held by the BJP, and were vacated as the legislators won the Lok Sabha election. So, it's a prestige issue for the BJP to retain control of most of these seats.
At the same time, for the ruling SP, it would virtually be a democratic slap in the face if it doesn't win most of these seats. The BSP is not contesting the by-election alleging goondaism by the SP regime, while the Congress is reduced to an also-ran even before the election.
"It's a unique contest," says senior political analyst Pradeep Kapoor. "It's like a Union government versus state government match," he adds in a lighter vein.
The truth is that the cursory remark reflects the reality on the ground. The queer part of this contest is the complete absence of issues. Political pundits are unanimous that the only issues in the electoral game are the Modi chant, and the Yadavs' popularity or the lack of it.
The lone Lok Sabha seat going to polls is Mainpuri, vacated by Mulayam who decided to retain Azamgarh, the other seat he won. Since he has fielded his nephew Tej Pratap Yadav from this seat, his personal prestige is at stake.
The PM's name is the most prominent element of the Apna Dal's campaign in Rohaniya as it falls in Varanasi, which Modi represents in the Lok Sabha. (Apna Dal is a BJP ally in UP.)
Similarly, in Lucknow, two former UP BJP presidents and now Union ministers – Kalraj Mishra and Rajnath Singh – have been slugging it out for the victory of a non-descript candidate in Lucknow-East. Mishra had vacated this seat while Rajnath is the MP from Lucknow.
In Charkhari (Jhansi), Union minister Uma Bharti's popularity will be on test. She vacated this seat and is now MP from Jhansi.
Besides personal reputations, the BJP hopes to drive home a strong message in preparation for the 2017 UP Assembly election. In fact, for some esoteric reason, many party leaders feel that if the BJP manages to corner the SP in this by-election, there could be a snap poll by 2015. Party MP Yogi Adityanath voiced this feeling at an election rally here on Wednesday.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}