Divided Muslim vote in UP local body polls a cause of worry for SP

By Vivek Tripathi
Lucknow, May 21 In the just-concluded local body elections in Uttar Pradesh, there has been a lot of fragmentation of Muslim votes.

The Samajwadi Party may face difficulties in upcoming Lok Sabha elections if Muslim votes get divided, as it was the Muslim votes because of which, the SP did well in the 2022 assembly elections.

Political experts said: "This time the Muslim votes got divided among parties in the local body elections. Changing the previous election trends of uniting behind a single party against the BJP, Muslims have voted for the people of their choice this time."

"UP's Muslims have voted for Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and SP on some seats. However, they ignored the Muslim candidates of BSP and SP on some seats and voted for Congress, Independents, Aam Aadmi Party, and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM)."

According to experts, division of votes among Muslim voters in Moradabad the strongest bastion of SP left the SP at the fourth position in mayoral contest. Congress candidate Mohd Rizwan stood at second position, BSP nominee Mohd Yameen remained at third place, while BJP candidate won the seat.

"In Shahjahanpur, the Muslims votes were divided between Congress and SP. Even in Bareilly, the Muslims were not inclined towards any one party," the experts said.

According to election statistics, this time the BJP has won the seats with majority of Muslim voters. Muslims have shown their faith in the state government.

The BJP fielded 395 Muslim candidates in the just-concluded local body elections in UP and more than 70 of them won, according to party leaders.

Political analyst Prasun Pandey said: "One thing that was seen in the civic elections is that the percentage of votes in some Muslim areas has been low. Apart from this, the division of the Muslim vote became the reason for the defeat of the opposition."

Another analyst Amod Kant said that the fragmentation of Muslim voters in UP has become a major reason for the defeat of the opposition. Like the 2022 assembly elections, the Muslim votes did not come in favour of the SP.

"By voting for BSP, Congress and AIMIM in the local body elections, Muslims have given this message that now Muslim voters are not going to remain tied to a party. They will vote wherever they see a better option," he said.

In such a situation, before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the SP will have to chalk out a new strategy to secure its traditional vote-bank along with adding new vote-banks.