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  India   BJP, allies spar over dalits, Kurmis

BJP, allies spar over dalits, Kurmis

AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : Jun 14, 2016, 7:05 am IST
Updated : Jun 14, 2016, 7:05 am IST

The Bhartiya Janata Party’s efforts to woo OBCs and dalits could face hurdles from its own allies in Uttar Pradesh.

The Bhartiya Janata Party’s efforts to woo OBCs and dalits could face hurdles from its own allies in Uttar Pradesh.

The Republican Party of India (RPI) has announced that it will seek 30 seats from the BJP in Uttar Pradesh and make its presence felt in the state in the 2017 Assembly elections.

RPI president and MP Ramdas Athawale said his party would contest 30 seats in alliance with the BJP but if the BJP refused to give him 30 seats, then RPI would contest 200 Assembly seats.

“We are strengthening our party organisation down to the booth level and want the party to make its presence felt in the upcoming Assembly election,” he said.

Though the RPI, which has its roots in the Ambedkar movement, claims to challenge the Bahujan Samaj Party on the issue of dalits, the party would also damage the BJP which is making inroads into the dalit vote bank. “At the moment, it is only the BJP which is challenging the BSP and winning dalit support to an extent. The entry of RPI into the fray would damage the BSP and the BJP though the party may not be able to win any seats for itself,” said a BJP leader.

A BSP functionary also admitted that the dalits in UP are familiar with the RPI even though the party has been restricted mainly to Maharashtra.

“The party is linked to Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar and that gives it an edge. It will marginally damage the BSP in UP if it contests the Assembly polls,” the functionary said.

Another ally which is causing trouble for BJP’s game plan in UP is the Apna Dal (Krishna Patel faction) which hold considerable sway over Kurmi votes that form 9 per cent of the state population and the second largest chunk (24 per cent) in the OBC category. Apna Dal president Krishna Patel said that her party was preparing to contest 150 seats in UP.

Location: India, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow