Modi-Yogi duo BJP’s trump card in last lap of Purvanchal battle

The 2024 Lok Sabha election has entered the crucial final lap in which 13 seats in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh are up for grabs.

The final bout of the election centres around Varanasi from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third term in Parliament, as well as the Gorakhpur region, the home turf of chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

Both are bastions of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that is aiming to increase its tally in the Lok Sabha.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the NDA had bagged 11 out of the 13 seats in the region. The BJP alone won nine of these seats while its ally Apna Dal (S) led by Union minister Anupriya Patel bagged two seats.

INDIA bloc constituents Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress failed to open their account. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) that contested the election in alliance with the SP bagged two seats.

Polling in the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies will be held in the seventh phase on June 1.

These constituencies include Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Bansgaon, Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Robertsganj.

The BJP bagged Varanasi, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Bansgaon, Salempur, Ballia and Chandauli while the Apna Dal (S) won Mirzapur and Robertsganj.

The Bahujan Samaj Party wrested the Ghosi and Ghazipur seats from the BJP that it won in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the BJP is again relying on the Modi and Yogi factors to win the seats.

Both Modi and Yogi are leading the high-pitched campaign with public meetings, road shows and rallies across the East UP to mobilsze the party supporters.

The hold of the NDA allies on the vital Other Backward Class (OBC) voters, including Kurmis, Rajbhars and Nishads, will be on test.

These allies include Apna Dal (S) led by Anupriya Patel, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party headed by Om Prakash Rajbhar and Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) party of Sanjay Nishad.

Anupriya is seeking a third term from Mirzapur.

Om Prakash Rajbhar’s son Arvind Rajbhar is in the fray from Ghosi Lok Sabha seat.

The BJP brought former minister Dara Singh Chauhan back into its fold to win the support of the Nonia community.

Before the 2022 assembly election, both Rajbhar and Chauhan had joined hands with the SP and the BJP suffered defeats in the Ghazipur and Mau region. Now, both the leaders have the task of transferring the votes of their communities to the BJP.

The strength of the SP- Congress alliance also is on trial. It remains to be seen whether it will succeed in breaking the Purvanchal wall to make inroads into the Modi and Yogi bastions. The future of the alliance will be decided on the poll outcome in this region where the INDIA bloc enjoys a hold on OBC and Muslim voters.

Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have addressed joint rallies and the leaders of the both parties have organised roadshows. The INDIA bloc has also planned a show of strength in Varanasi on May 28.

The SP is banking on the PDA (backward, Dalit, Muslim) formula to regain lost ground in the region. To win the support of non- Yadav OBCs, it has fielded candidates belonging to Nishad, Sainthwar, Rajbhar and Bind communities.

In the 2022 assembly election, the SP-led alliance bagged all the five seats in Ghazipur Lok Sabha constituency.

In Ghosi, the BJP could win only one out of five assembly seats due to the caste alliance built by the SP.

Out of the 13 seats, the SP has fielded candidates on nine and the Congress on four.

UP Congress Committee president Ajay Rai is in fray from Varanasi against Modi.

The SP has fielded Afzal Ansari, brother of Mukhtar Ansari, from Ghazipur to cement its hold on Muslim voters.

Going solo, the BSP has fielded candidates on all the 13 seats.

Along with retaining the two seats it won in 2019, the BSP is working to win back the support of Muslim and OBC voters.

Along with six OBC candidates, the BSP has fielded three Muslims from backward Pasmanda community.

The 13 constituencies are spread across a diverse region of Uttar Pradesh from northern areas of the belt bordering Nepal to the south bordering Jharkhand- Chhattisgarh to the east bordering Bihar.