Floating voters won’t impact UP polls

In Uttar Pradesh, there are no “like-minded” parties, floating voters or a growing middle class despite the economic reforms introduced in 1991. Elections are fought on old calculations, with old faces and old strategies, feel political leaders.

The leaders say while the BJP, BSP, SP and the Congress have nothing new to offer after promising Ram Rajya, social justice and overall development, regional parties like the Aam Aadmi Party lack appeal in the state, which is divided on caste lines.

Although the SP, BSP and the RLD come under the category of “like-minded” as they play the social justice card and push for more power to the backward castes and the most backward castes, they remain divided due to political ambitions. The Congress also speaks the same language under the leadership of upper castes.

The BJP, till now known as an “upper-caste” party, is now talking of backward castes with a Hindutva agenda.

Asked whether floating voters exist in UP, a senior AICC strategist who has experience in handling the state, said he has not seen their impact in his long political career.

The late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan used to say floating voters are always decisive and influence elections, that they are more important than committed voters.

Significantly, the middle class hardly influences elections in UP because it is also driven by caste.

Political leaders are privately conceding that elections are fought on old calculations influenced by caste and sub-castes.

While Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati have been influencing state politics for the last two decades, the BJP has been lacking regional satraps and heavyweight leaders. Mr Kalyan Singh had emerged as an heavyweight but was cut to size by his own party leaders. The saffron party is finding it difficult to project a face in the upcoming Assembly polls despite the fact that it won 71 of the 80 seats from UP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

As far as the Congress is concerned, it has been out of the race for the last 27 years despite making several experiments under the leadership of the late Rajiv Gandhi, P.V. Narasimha Rao and Mrs Sonia Gandhi.