Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Six political parties have intensified their activities in the state before the Vidhan Sabha elections.
Consequently, major political parties have begun to assess how the entry of those political outfits into the state will damage their prospects.
The show of strength by the Bhim Army has made it clear that calculation of SC votes will not be easy for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as for the Congress.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also organised a conference on February 4. The Jay Adiwasi Youth Sangathan (JAYS), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) have already been active in the state. The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has already entered the state during the civic elections.
Although the chances of anyone of them playing an important role in forming government are bleak, their getting votes may impact the victory and the defeat of a candidate.
In the 2018 assembly elections, the third political parties got 8.1% of votes. On the other hand, independents got 5.8%, the BSP got 5%, the Gondwana Ganatantra Party (GGP) 1.8% and the SP gained 1.3% of votes.
In the last assembly elections, the BJP and the Congress were locked in a ding-dong battle. The BJP got 41% of votes, and the Congress gained 40.9% of it.
The votes going to other parties in this year’s elections will have an impact on the outcome.
The Bhim Army has influence among SC voters, and it will have an impact on the votes of both the main political parties. The AAP is not yet active. Ergo, its impact will be only on the voters in urban areas, which may cause headache to the BJP.
The BSP and the SP have become weaker than they were earlier. On the other hand, the AIMIM will make a dent in the Congress’s vote bank.
AIMIM benefited BJP in civic polls
The BJP got the benefits of the AIMIM’s decision to put up candidates in the civic polls. In Burhanpur, the BJP won the post of Mayor, because the AIMIM candidate cut into Congress’s votes. In the same way, the BJP got the benefit in Khandwa because of AIMIM candidate.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
