The appointment of veteran Samajwadi Party leader Mata Prasad Pandey as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly is being seen as yet another surprise move by party president Akhilesh Yadav to counter the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that is yet to recover from his PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) plank in the Lok Sabha poll.
Mr. Pandey was not a front runner for the post, and political analysts were suggesting that the choice would be between the Deputy Leader of the Opposition Indrajit Saroj and senior party leader Shivpal Yadav. However, by picking a Brahmin over a Dalit or a family member, Mr. Yadav showed yet again that he is not a one-trick pony.
Party insiders say several things worked in favour of Mr. Pandey. On the surface, the logic is that the seven-time MLA and former Speaker of the Assembly is a seasoned socialist who remained loyal to the SP even when the party’s electoral fortunes hit a low. In comparison, Mr. Saroj switched from the Bahujan Samaj Party in 2018.
Thakur vs Brahmin
The socialist party puts class over caste struggle, but the ideological pitch gets a bit muddled as the party has picked a Brahmin to give a face to the tug of war between the Thakur and Brahmin politics in Purvanchal in the Assembly. After the BJP came to power in the State in 2017, time and again a section of the Brahmin leadership raised concerns that under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the interests of the Brahmins have been undermined. “Jo peedit hai, shoshit hai, woh pichhda hai (The one that is aggrieved and exploited is backward in society). And Brahmins are victims of the rampant thakurwad (Thakur domination) in the current Uttar Pradesh administration,” alleged a member of the SP think tank.
He reeled out cases where the victim was from the Brahmin community and the perpetrators were allegedly from the Rajputs. “Mr. Pandey is better placed to take on Baba (Mr. Adityanath) who asserts his caste identity for political gains,” he said. Interestingly, the SP had secured both Rajput and Brahmin support on some crucial Lok Sabha seats as Virendra Singh defeated BJP candidate and former Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey in Chandauli. In Ballia, its Brahmin candidate Sanatan Pandey vanquished BJP’s Rajput face and former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar’s son Neeraj Shekhar on his home turf.
Also, the BJP’s ploy to bring SP’s chief whip Manoj Pandey to its fold didn’t yield any benefits in Rae Bareli and Amethi.
Senior party leader Muneer Ahmad said that is why the BJP was in a bind after the Lok Sabha poll because the SP truly implements the principle of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’. “We have always been for 15% share for upper castes. It reflects in our seat percentage in the Lok Sabha as well where five out of 37 hail from upper castes,” he said.
The fact that Mr. Mata Prasad Pandey is a better orator than other contenders also worked in his favour as the repartees in the Assembly become material for reels in the times of social media, a party leader said, adding that though around 10% of the State population, Brahmins have always been social influencers across communities and that is why they punch above their numerical weight in electoral politics.
On the first day of the Assembly’s monsoon session on Monday, the newly chosen LoP said the State government has failed on all fronts.
“Our State is facing multiple challenges — from law and order to flood and corruption,” he said.
Speaker Satish Mahana assured that the government was ready to discuss all the issues. “You are the LoP and you have the right to give notices... we will organise a discussion on all issues. The government is willing to answer in the House,” the Speaker said.
Not a threat
At 81, Mr. Mata Prasad Pandey is like a father figure to Mr. Yadav and not a threat to his control over the party. Said to be close to chacha (uncle), a party source, referring to Mr. Shivpal, indicated he would not work against his interests either. “The bonhomie reflected in how they sat together on the first day of the Assembly,” the source said.
After the success of the ‘PDA’ formula in Lok Sabha, the party is clear that Yadavs and Muslims, the traditional pillars of the party, have to make sacrifices till the Assembly poll.
Reflecting on the new scenario where ‘A’ in PDA includes everybody from agda (upper caste) to Adivasi (tribals), a young Muslim leader said that alpsankhyak (minority) representation is reduced to small ‘a’. However, by making Kanth (Moradabad) MLA Kamal Akhtar the chief whip, Mr. Yadav has given a signal that the party hasn’t forgotten the contribution of the Muslim vote and is not solely following the wishes of jailed senior leader Azam Khan in matters of Muslim leadership.
Not known to be Mr. Khan’s acolyte, Mr. Akhtar still worked for the success of Mr. Yadav’s experiment in Moradabad, where a Vaishya candidate of the party secured victory on a seat that had around 10 lakh Muslim voters.
The move is also meant to secure the Muslims and Brahmins from the appeal of the alliance partner, Congress, which is working towards regaining a foothold in its traditional vote banks.
Published - July 30, 2024 12:23 am IST
