New Delhi: Ahead of the Milkipur assembly bypolls in Ayodhya, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has chalked out an extensive plan to counter the Opposition’s narrative of ‘Samvidhan Bachao‘ (Save the Constitution) in Uttar Pradesh.
Apart from distributing copies of Ambedkar’s photo and the tricolour flag in Dalit-dominated areas, the BJP state unit plans to prepare a pamphlet showcasing how Congress and SP are “anti-Dalits”.
Last week, BJP state secretary Abhijat Mishra along with other party functionaries distributed copies of the Constitution and Ambedkar’s photographs to sanitation workers at Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj. After getting a positive response in the Maha Kumbh, the state unit decided to execute this plan on a larger scale by launching it in Ayodhya in the coming week.
“We got a very positive response from Maha Kumbh where we distributed over 1,000 copies of the Constitution… Now we are aiming for Ayodhya where the opposition snatched our seat by creating a fake narrative of Samvidhan Bachao,” Mishra told ThePrint.
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The party would not only distribute copies of the Constitution but also put up pamphlets and hoardings to expose the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress, he said. “In our hoardings, we will mention how Nehru was against Ambedkar.”
Dalit votes hold the key in this Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved constituency which has about 3.5 lakh voters. BJP has fielded Chandrabhan Paswan, a Pasi, as its candidate. Paswan is up against Azad Samaj Party’s Suraj Choudhary and the SP’s Ajeet Prasad. All three candidates are Dalits.
Milkipur is a prestige battle for the ruling BJP after it lost Faizabad in the general elections. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is said to be monitoring the bypoll arrangements. All senior functionaries, BJP insiders say, are directly reporting to him as he declared himself as an observer for the Milkipur bypolls.
Voting was necessitated as Awadhesh Prasad of the SP vacated the seat after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Faizabad. Milkipur will vote on 5 February and results will be declared on 8 February.
As the BJP has launched the Samvidhan Gaurav Abhiyan, a nationwide campaign to celebrate 75 years of the Constitution, he said, the state unit thought about being more innovative.
“We still remember how we faced a big blow in the Lok Sabha due to the opposition’s ‘fake narrative’ of Samvidhan Bachao wherein its leaders were showing copies of the Constitution in rallies. So, we decided to empower sanitation workers with copies of the Constitution, Ambedkar’s photos, and flags. The Maha Kumbh is also a great celebration of unity, something that the Constitution guarantees,” he added.
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Dalit Morcha to be roped in
Apart from distributing poll paraphernalia, the SC-ST wing also plans to organise small groups meetings in Ayodhya to counter the opposition’s narrative of Samvidhan Bachao.
“We have planned to do small meetings so that we can pitch our message directly to them (the audience). We have prepared a pamphlet in which we are mentioning how both the Congress and the SP are anti-Dalits. We will tell them how SP workers attacked Mayawati and how Nehru was totally against Ambedkar through these pamphlets,” Ram Chandra Kannoujiya, the BJP’s SC wing in the state, told ThePrint.
The BJP lost Ayodhya because “we did not counter the opposition’s fake narrative”, he said. “Now, we will organise small group ‘choupals’ (meetings) across the state.”
The state unit is apprehensive that the controversy surrounding Amit Shah’s remarks on Ambedkar in Parliament could have an impact in UP, a senior BJP state leader told ThePrint.
“So, the party has made a plan to counter it in a low-key manner. These small groups, Constitution copies distribution and felicitation of sanitation workers are being done by state functionaries not by Cabinet ministers, otherwise the opposition will also copy it (the move) once they see the traction,” the BJP leader said.
Mahakumbh is the biggest platform to launch this initiative where sanitation workers from across the states come, he added. “Now Ayodhya is our second target by keeping Milkipur in mind where Dalit voters are above 30 percent.”
SP spokesperson Manoj Kaka took a swipe at the BJP, saying that it was a “wrong assumption” that the Dalits would vote for the ruling party just because after getting copies of the Constitution copies.
“Every community is alert now. They want their rights. They know about BJP’s ‘anti-reservation’ policies. Their leaders themselves said, ‘400 paar kae baad, samvidhan badal daenge’ (Change the Constitution after getting 400-plus seats). One of their top leaders used harsh words for Ambedkar in Parliament. Dalit community will not forgive this,” he said, without naming Shah.
“If they want to bring welfare for sanitation workers, then why did they not provide them houses under government schemes? In Ayodhya, the public is well-aware of local issues.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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