The electoral battleground in Uttar Pradesh is known for caste arithmetic, and whoever masters it wins the mandate to govern the state. Chaudhary Charan Singh proved this by building an anti-Parliament front in the 1960s, when the party was at its peak.
He broke away from the Congress party, led the faction to victory, and even became chief minister through the successful implementation of AJGAR (a coalition of Ahir, Jat, Gurjar and Rajput communities).
Congress was able to retain power in that era by focusing on Brahmins, Dalits and Muslims. To solve this problem, Chaudhry Charan Singh prepared a coalition of non-Brahmin and non-Dalit communities.
They have a significant presence in much of western Uttar Pradesh. Of the four, Ahirs (Yadav) is the only one who is spread across the states.
This experiment worked successfully in UP’s politics for about 10 years, but after Mandal politics, Samajwadi Party (SP) was formed, Yadavs separated and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) became Jats’ party.
A large number of Rajputs remain with SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. In this case, as long as RLD and SP are together, it is said that an attempt will now be made to recreate the AJGAR equation. There were similar speculations about the SP-RLD alliance this time around, but it turned out to be wrong.
The reason behind this is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is currently in power, while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is himself a Rajput.
The Rajput community is fully visible in the BJP camp due to his charisma. In this case, SP and RLD start to focus on the GAJAB equation instead of AJGAR.
The GAJAB alliance consists of Gurjars, Ahirs (Yadavs), Jats and Brahmins. SP wants to compensate Rajputs for expected loss with Brahmin votes. That’s why it organizes Prabuddh Sammelan statewide and participates in ticket distribution.
Coalition partners also highlighted the Brahmins of Purvanchal, who are believed to be the main political themes with Rajputs. If the most backward castes and Muslims are added to the equation, the Samawadi party appears to be focusing on a large voting pool.
Whether it is Harishankar Tiwari’s family, or the campaign of MLA Manoj Pandey, who values the Unchahar seat from Rae Bareli, it is clear from Akhilesh Yadav’s strategy that he is implementing GAJAB.
When it comes to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), it focuses on Brahmins, but it focuses on the BDM equation – Brahmins, Dalits and Muslims. Congress has engaged in such politics in the past in many northern Indian states, including Uttar Pradesh.
Complete News Source : Hindustan Times