UP polls: Once a BSP bastion, Ambedkarnagar now set for a keen battle of castes

AMBEDKARNAGAR: In mid-May 2007, when the BSP stormed to power with absolute majority in UP for the first time, Lalji Verma was heading the party's state unit. He had already won the Tanda assembly seat in Ambedkarnagar for the fourth consecutive time and was being projected as BSP's key Kurmi OBC face.
Verma, one of the trusted lieutenants of Mayawati, eventually saw his political career receiving the stellar propulsion -- he got appointed as a cabinet minister with all-important portfolios like Finance, Parliamentary Affairs and Medical Education.
When Mayawati got ousted from power in 2012, Lalji lost his Katehari seat but not BSP supremo's confidence. He won back the seat in 2017 and got appointed as BSP's legislative party leader in the UP assembly, a post that symbolizes the immense importance of the functionary within the party.
Cut to February 2022. Verma sports the trademark `red cap' of the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and moves in a cavalcade of SUVs bearing `red-green' SP flags. Reason: He joined the SP after being expelled from the party by Mayawati on charges of "anti-party activities" last year. "Some insiders in BSP tried to sabotage my political career and spoiled my good relations with Behenji," Verma recalls, pensively, sinking into a chair at his Ambedkarnagar residence. Verma recalled how Mayawati used to call him to inquire about his well-being when he contracted Covid last year. "But suddenly everything changed," he said, grimly.
Nestled amid swathes of agricultural fields and rich flora, Verma's stately residence in Mohiuddinpur village of the district bears the testimony of his changed political leanings. A large SP flag fly atop his bungalow, painted in white. Groups of SP functionaries sporting SP caps and red-green scarfs move enthusiastically even as a host of SUVs gear up to dart to nearby villages for a hectic election campaign.
Verma is not the only BSP veteran to have switched over to SP. Another senior leader and Akbarpur MLA, Ram Achal Rajbhar too joined the Akhilesh Yadav led outfit after being defrocked from the party by the BSP boss on similar charges. Rajbhar, the former national general secretary and UP BSP chief, is in the fray on SP ticket from Akbarpur.
It is said that a local Brahmin BSP leader and a zonal coordinator reportedly stoked rumors of the two leaders hobnobbing with the BJP. As if expulsion of two of the three BSP MLAs from the same district was not enough, former BSP MP from Ambedkarnagar, Rakesh Pandey too jumped ship and joined the SP. Rakesh's son Ritesh is currently BSP Lok Sabha MP from the seat.
Clearly, the district which once used to be the bastion of BSP -- Mayawati represented it thrice in the Lok Sabha -- has been showing signs of crumbling for the past few months. Ambedkarnagar was, in fact, the only district where out of five assembly seats three were won by BSP -- Akbarpur, Katehari and Jalalpur -- in 2017. Locals here say that BSP footprints in the district deepened when Mayawati carved it out of Faizabad (now Ayodhya) during her previous tenure in 1995.
But the political tipping point was yet to come. Mayawati moved in swiftly and fielded Rakesh's nephew Prateek against Verma. Prateek is a son of local strongman Pawan Pandey who is learnt to wield considerable influence in the district. The BJP has stuck to Awdhesh Dwivedi who lost to Verma by a slender margin of just over 6000 votes in 2017.
Mayawati's political astuteness stretched to Rajbhar's constituency as well. She poached BJP's Chandra Prakash Verma and has fielded him against Rajbhar. Verma lost to Rajbhar in 2017.
"It is now a triangular fight here," said Mahendra Mishra, a shopkeeper in Bihra village. According to locals, the district has a sizeable population of voters from Dalit and OBC community. "BSP key leaders from the district might have switched to SP but they will face a stiff challenge from the BJP which banks on giving clean governance and a robust law and order situation," said Dr Arvind Verma, a veterinary doctor in Balrampur village.