Disquiet in SP-BSP and Congress over choice of candidates

  • | Sunday | 24th March, 2019

Unhappy with party’s choice of Dolly Sharma, Congress veteran Surender Prakash Goyal has raised the banner of revolt. On Friday, the SP-BSP leadership replaced Munni with Suresh Bansal.“The caste arithmetic is accounted for while deciding on the candidates, at least in UP. In 2004, Goyal had won the Hapur-Ghaziabad seat on a Congress ticket but lost to the BJP’s Rajnath Singh in 2009.The Congress’ Sharma though sounds confident as she prepares for the campaign phase. So, when the Congress announced the name of Dolly Sharma, who is a Brahmin, the SP-BSP had to replace Munni as he is also a Brahmin. The party’s decision, however, has upset the SP-BSP applecart which had already announced Surender Kumar Munni as its candidate for the seat.

Ghaziabad: In a land synonymous with caste permutations, the arithmetic over the caste of candidates has led to chaos in Opposition parties. Ghaziabad, widely seen as a “safe” seat for the BJP, may have turned more so over the past two days as internal strife within the SP-BSP combine as well as the Congress has put the Opposition in disarray.One of the reasons is the decision by the Congress to field Dolly Sharma from Ghaziabad. The party’s decision, however, has upset the SP-BSP applecart which had already announced Surender Kumar Munni as its candidate for the seat. On Friday, the SP-BSP leadership replaced Munni with Suresh Bansal.“The caste arithmetic is accounted for while deciding on the candidates, at least in UP. So, when the Congress announced the name of Dolly Sharma, who is a Brahmin, the SP-BSP had to replace Munni as he is also a Brahmin. The logic is that if Muni was allowed to contest, the Brahmin votes could have spilt, which, in turn, would have benefitted the BJP,” said an SP leader.Replacing Munni with Bansal, however, has led to internal strife within the party, with Munni sulking and going into a huddle. The latter, who had faced a similar fate in 2017 from the Muradnagar Assembly constituency, had been sure of a ticket this time around, sources said. “Munni kept denying the news of being replaced until Bansal’s name was announced,” a party worker said.Munni since has declined to speak to the media. However, speculation of a rebellion is rife within the constituency, even though Bansal, who left the BSP to join the SP and get the candidature, claims Munni will not fight as an Independent. “I understand what Munni is going through. He is obviously hurt,” said Bansal, adding, “But the larger interests of party had to be accepted. I am sure his annoyance will be addressed. I am in touch with him.”Denying any plans of fighting as an Independent, Bansal claimed Munni will “abide by the party’s decision”.Citing the caste break-up in the Ghaziabad constituency, Bansal claimed that it behoved the SP-BSP combine to field a non-Brahmin candidate when the Congress had fielded one. “There are about 4 lakh SC voters. 5.5 lakh Muslims and Jats, Gujjars and Yadavs account for 4.5 lakh voters. They are behind us and this gives me the confidence that the BJP’s candidate will be defeated this time,” claimed a confident Bansal.Meanwhile, all’s not well in the Congress camp as well. Unhappy with party’s choice of Dolly Sharma, Congress veteran Surender Prakash Goyal has raised the banner of revolt. Despite Sharma being announced the official candidate, Goyal has got nomination forms, perhaps signalling he is ready to contest independently.“Everyone will come to know if I am contesting or not on Monday,” said Goyal. “Everything is fair in love and war,” he added.It may be ample indication that unlike Munni, Goyal is not ready to go down without a fight, giving the Congress enough cause for concern in Ghaziabad.What makes the rebellion tougher to ignore is Goyal’s experience in electoral politics, which could damage Sharma’s prospects. In 2004, Goyal had won the Hapur-Ghaziabad seat on a Congress ticket but lost to the BJP’s Rajnath Singh in 2009.The Congress’ Sharma though sounds confident as she prepares for the campaign phase. “The party has given me a ticket from Ghaziabad and I am not worried about anyone as I am concentrating on my campaign,” said Sharma.The BJP’s VK Singh, on the other hand, is already into serious campaign mode. On Saturday, he attended 10 public meetings.

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