Small parties in UP to get sidelined in 2019

Outfits like the Nishad Party, Apna Dal,  Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party and Bhim Party cannot win a seat on their own in Lok Sabha polls as each seat has about 16 lakh voters. At best, these can benefit or hurt the big parties in some pockets.

Lucknow: In politics, there are times when small seems big. In Assembly elections, the relatively small parties have a big role to play and the bigger parties recognise their potential and even pamper them.

However, its an altogether a different story during the Lok Sabha polls. Ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha contest, the political scenario in Uttar Pradesh is rapidly changing and efforts are being made to ensure that a united Opposition takes on the BJP, which won 71 out of the 80 seats in 2014.

The immediate fallout of the upcoming anti-BJP grouping, anchored by the Samajwadi Party and the BSP, is that smaller parties are getting little attention.

The lion’s share of seats in the mega Opposition alliance will undoubtedly go to the Samajwadi Party and the BSP while the Congress and the Rashtriya Lok Dal will have to share 10-12 seats between them.

In such a scenario, there is no room left for smaller parties in the state to play any significant role, with the Opposition front or with the NDA.

“Lok Sabha seats are limited and we are not in a position to accommodate smaller parties. Assembly elections are different because we had more seats at our disposal,” said an SP leader.

There are over a dozen small political outfits, having a limited area of influence in terms of region and caste. However, when teamed up with bigger parties, these outfits bring in votes.

For instance, the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) had been trying its hand at electoral politics in Assembly polls since 2005 but could not win even a single seat till 2017 when it joined hands with the BJP and ended up winning four seats.

The Peace Party, a Muslim-centric party which had become an emerging star in Uttar Pradesh politics in 2012 when it won four seats in the Assembly, is now on the verge of disintegration. Its MLAs have moved on to greener pastures and its leader Dr Mohamed Ayub has almost lost credibility by moving from one camp to another. The party is unlikely to get accommodated by the SP, BSP or even the Congress.

The Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal, popularly known as the Nishad Party has influence among the Nishad community but lacks a political presence.  It is inching closer to the Samajwadi Party that had adopted its candidate, Pravin Nishad, to successfully contest the Gorakhpur by-elections on Samajwadi Party symbol.

“After Pravin Nishad won the by-election, chances are that the SP will give tickets to at least two candidates from Nishad Party in 2019 on the condition that they will contest on SP symbol,”said a SP leader.

The  All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM), led by Asaduddin Owaisi,  has also been trying to find a foothold in Uttar Pradesh politics and the party made its presence felt in the local body  elections last year when it won 12 municipal councillors’ posts, seven seats in Nagar Palika Parishad and six Nagar Panchayat posts.

However, the AIMIM is not likely to be made a part of the grand alliance since most non-BJP parties are wary of the statements issued by AIMIM leaders from time to time.

Another small party waiting in the wings is Mahaan Dal that claims support of Shakya, Maurya and Kushwaha communities, mainly in western parts of the state. The party has not yet made its mark in electoral politics and no big party has shown any interest in it.

The major political parties, interestingly, are also facing a threat from smaller parties that are trying to poach on their respective vote banks.

The BJP faces its biggest threat from the Shiv Sena which, for the first time, has announced its intentions to contest the LS elections in Uttar Pradesh. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will be touring Varanasi and Ayodhya in October and he is expected to woo those Hindu voters who are disillusioned with the BJP.

The BSP faces a threat from the fledgling Bhim Army that is preparing to contest about 35 seats, mainly in western Uttar Pradesh. BSP chief Mayawati has accused the BJP of promoting the Bhim Army to damage the BSP.

Besides, a host of parties with names like Bahujan Vijay Party, Bahujan Samajwadi Dal and Bahujan Dalit Samaj Party are all set to create confusion among dalits who are the BSP’s mainstay. Mayawati blames rivals for funding these “look-alike” parties.