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After establishing his influence in the politics of Bihar, now Union Minister and National President of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) Chirag Paswan has made a big announcement of entering the political arena of neighboring state Uttar Pradesh. Keeping in mind the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Chirag Paswan’s party has started its organizational preparations for all the 403 assembly seats in the state. Although it is not completely clear whether LJP (Ram Vilas) will contest the elections under the NDA alliance or will contest all the seats alone, but this strategic movement has heated up the market of discussions in the political corridors of Uttar Pradesh. Now a big question is arising in the minds of political analysts that if Chirag Paswan jumps into the battle of UP, how much will it directly or indirectly benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or will it increase the problems of the ruling party. The ‘Gen-Z Plan’ prepared by the party to attract youth and Dalit voters from Purvanchal to other parts of the state can redefine the traditional electoral equations of Uttar Pradesh.
Chirag keeps a close eye on the youth and Dalit voters of UP through ‘Youth Bole Toh’ program.
To establish his strong presence in the politics of Uttar Pradesh, Chirag Paswan has started working under a very thoughtful strategy. Recently, his mega programs like ‘Youth Bole To’ in many major districts of Uttar Pradesh including Prayagraj have created a huge craze among the youth. His style of directly communicating with the youth wearing jeans and T-shirt makes him stand apart from traditional politicians. The party plans to organize at least 20 big programs and rallies of Chirag Paswan in different districts of Uttar Pradesh before the elections, so that the organization’s ground can be strengthened. Dalits and young voters have always played the role of kingmakers in the political scenario of Uttar Pradesh. In the political vacuum created after the change in the political equations of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Chirag Paswan is trying to find a new option for his party. By raising issues like education, employment, paper leaks and political participation of youth, he is directly trying to make his place in the hearts of the young generation.
Will BJP benefit from Chirag Paswan’s entry or will tension increase?
The biggest political question is that if Chirag Paswan contests elections in Uttar Pradesh, what benefit will it give to the main constituent party of NDA i.e. BJP. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, BJP had to suffer some losses on the front of non-Yadav OBC and non-Jatav Dalit votes within Uttar Pradesh, the advantage of which was gained by the opposition ‘India’ alliance. In such a situation, political analysts believe that Chirag Paswan’s presence within the NDA or his strategy to woo the Dalits and youth can prove helpful in strengthening the overall vote bank of the NDA. If LJP contests some selected seats under the (Ram Vilas) alliance or campaigns in the areas of Purvanchal where Dalit and youth voters play a decisive role, then it can make a dent in the social equation of the opposition parties which had united against BJP in the recent elections. However, if the party decides to contest the elections completely alone, then there may be a situation of dispersion of votes on some seats, regarding which various speculations are being made among political experts.
Planned strategy to strengthen bargaining position before seat sharing
Political experts also believe that talking about preparations on all 403 seats long before the elections and continuously organizing big programs is actually an excellent political way to strengthen one’s bargaining power during seat sharing. Chirag Paswan knows very well how important it is to move out of Bihar and strengthen his political base in a huge state like Uttar Pradesh to increase the scope of his party at the national level. Even if at the last moment an agreement is reached on seat sharing under the alliance, till then keeping the cadre ready at the organizational level will prove to be very beneficial for the future expansion of the party. In the coming days, it will be very interesting to see how much this entry of Chirag Paswan in the political arena of Uttar Pradesh affects the equations of the main parties and how much support they get from the public.