Flanked by two minister of Yogi Adityanath cabinet on a dais, a local BJP leader in Uttar Pradesh reportedly threatened the Muslims to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming civic body polls or “face difficulties” – a possible model code of conduct violation.
The Indian Express reported that while addressing a rally in Nawabganj, BJP leader Ranjeet Kumar Srivastava, who is campaigning for his wife for the upcoming civic polls in Barabanki district, threatened Muslims that if they do not vote for her they should be ready to face difficulties.
During his address on November 13, Srivastava said, "Agar Ranjeet Sahab ki patni ko tumne vote de kar ke chunav nahi jitaya… To yeh doori jo tum banane ja rahe ho, ab agar yeh doori banegi to tumko Samajwadi Party bachane nahi aayegi. BJP ka shashankaal hai. Jo kasht tumko nahi jhelne pade the, woh kasht tumko uthane pad sakte hain,” said Srivastava. (If you don’t vote for Ranjeet Sahab’s wife and get her elected, then you will distance yourselves and Samajwadi Party won’t come to your rescue. This is the BJP’s reign. You may have to face the difficulties which you did not have to undergo earlier).
Two other ministers from the Yogi Adityanath cabinet, Dara Singh Chauhan and Ramapati Shastri, were also present on stage when Srivastava made the remarks during the campaign for the civic body polls which will be held in three phases in the state on November 22, 26, and 29.
The upcoming municipal polls will be a key test for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as the results would indicate whether the priest-turned- politician has been able to ensure that the BJP continues to maintain its popularity level. Earlier this year, the party riding on the crest of a Hindutva wave had secured a three-fourths majority in the state Assemble paving way for the 45-year-old saffron-clad Adityanath to be chosen as the chief minister.
Srivastava said he is not here to beseech for votes and further cautioned Muslims: “Main, Mussalmano se keh raha hun, vote de dena. Bheekh nahi maang raha hun. Agar vote doge, to sukhi rahoge. Agar vote nahin doge, to jo kasht jheloge uska andaza tumko swatah lag jayega,” he said. (Therefore, I am asking Muslims to cast your vote (for us). I am not begging. If you vote (for us), you will be better off. If you don’t vote (for us), the difficulties will become obvious to you.).
However, Srivastava’s spokesperson backed him saying, “ He wanted to say that Muslims did not support him in 2012, but he still carried out development work in their areas, without any discrimination. He was appealing to them that since the BJP is in power in the state, if a non-BJP candidate wins, the elected chairperson may not be able to get their work done.”
Other BJP leaders who were present at the event also supported Srivastava and said that they did not hear him saying anything like ‘warning muslims’.
“BJP believes in ‘sabka saath-sabka vikas’. Party leaders associated with local polls will certainly take cognizance of this matter,” Indian Express quoted Dara Singh Chauhan as saying.
The civic polls is being seen as a major challenge for the Hindutva leader as the outcome would reveal the mood of the voters ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, say political observers.
"Voting for local bodies is based on local issues. In the civic polls people cast ballots. The masses will get a chance to register their disapproval of the anti-people BJP government," Samajwadi Party MLC Rajpal Kashyap said adding that the urban local polls would be the first direct elections with Adityanath at the helm.
The BJP's victory in these polls would be seen as a stamp of approval for the Adityanath government.
"The results will also present an opportunity to the party for course correction in their policies and governance," political observer and academic Manjula Upadhyay said.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress, which forged an alliance in run up to the 2017 UP state polls, have decided to contest these elections separately.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has said his party will have no alliance in the elections to urban local bodies and would contest them on its 'bicycle' symbol.
SP spokesperson and MLC Sunil Singh Sajan said, "The pre-poll electoral tie-up was for 2017 Assembly elections. This does not mean that it will continue for the urban local bodies' elections or 2019 Lok Sabha polls."
Similarly, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad recently said his party would go alone in the urban local polls. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is also fighting the polls without an alliance.
In the event of a split in non-BJP votes, the saffron party will have an edge.
Expecting that a split in opposition votes would help the BJP's prospects, its spokesperson Shalabh Mani Tripathi exuded confidence that the party would register an impressive win.