Uttar Pradesh chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has come up with a new strategy to continue his legacy ahead of the state assembly polls. Following the ethics of the Muslim-Yadav equation which had helped SP to conquer many elections, this time Akhilesh has experimented the concept of Muslim-Gujjar combo over 20 constituencies of western UP where these two communities could play a vital role in winning the elections.
In Uttar Pradesh, ‘Gujjar’ is a community which is counted among the other backward classes. Thus, they dominate over limited seats across western UP including Kairana, Shamli, and pockets of Saharanpur district. But if this community is amalgamated the Muslims, the combination strengthens their dominance and increases their winning chances.
However, SP has fielded around 10 Gujjar candidates as compared to 6 Jats and 12 Muslims in the 73 assembly seats in the first phase of voting which will commence on February 11. Most of the Gujjars follow Hinduism, while a section of them are Muslims.
Several media reports have stated that the communities in the state like Jat and Gujjars don’t vote for the party but they just vote to their caste’s candidate. In the past, former Prime Minister and UP ex-CM Chaudhary Charan Singh tried to garner Jat, Gujjar along with Muslims, Ahir (Yadavs) and Rajputs under one roof and form a grand alliance of farmers community and backward classes in the 70s and early 80s and succeeded as well.
But in 2014 general elections, after the Muzaffarnagar riots, the combined spirit had ended as the votes of these communities were divided.
