New Delhi, . Samajwadi Party has announced its entry in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections at the last moment. After the filing of nominations and the completion of scrutiny of nomination papers, the party said on Sunday evening that it has fielded 20 of its candidates. 20 seats are very important in the elections being held for a total of 90 assembly seats here. The question arises that who will benefit and who will suffer from this changed equation.
It is certain that Samajwadi Party cannot make a dent in the vote bank of BJP from anywhere. In such a situation, many speculations are being made about the Akhilesh Yadav-led party, which is part of the ‘India’ block, contesting against the Congress-National Conference (NC) candidates in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly. Most political analysts are calling it the result of increasing rift in the ‘India’ block. They say that the alliance of opposition parties that came together to defeat Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections has no purpose left in the assembly elections. In such a situation, their disintegration is certain, and this is also visible on the ground. On one hand, Samajwadi Party quietly fielded its candidates in Jammu and Kashmir, while on the other hand, things did not work out between AAP and Congress in Haryana.
SP, which emerged as the second largest opposition party after Congress in the Lok Sabha elections, is bound to have the ambition to increase its base in other states outside Uttar Pradesh. But it is not going to make any dent in BJP’s vote bank. If Samajwadi Party can cut anyone’s votes, it is the parties of the ‘India’ alliance.
If we look at the 20 seats on which SP has fielded candidates, then its candidates are seen giving tough competition to Congress candidates on only four of them. These seats are Baramulla, Udhampur West, Bandipora and Wagura Kreeri. Voting is to be held in all the four assembly constituencies in the third and final phase on October 1. In Udhampur West, apart from SP, Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) is also in the fray against Congress.
Some political analysts are also suspecting an internal agreement between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party regarding SP not fielding many candidates against the Congress. They say that the position of the Congress is not very good on these four seats Baramulla, Udhampur West, Bandipora and Wagura Kreeri, and hence even if SP fields candidates on these seats, it will not make much difference to the election results. At the same time, Congress and SP together can harm the National Conference on the remaining seats. This can be a part of the Congress’s backup plan in case of a mixed mandate.
However, traditionally the Samajwadi Party does not have any special support base in the Union Territory. In such a situation, SP cannot do much by fielding candidates against any alliance here, but by taking some votes in its favor, it can definitely spoil someone’s game.
By the way, NDA’s constituent parties are also face to face on some seats in the Union Territory. For example, both JDU and NCP (Ajit Pawar) have fielded their candidates from Wagura Kreeri. But nowhere is such a situation created against BJP.
Whatever be the reason, it is clear that the equation has become interesting with the Samajwadi Party’s entry into the Jammu and Kashmir elections. How much of an upset it can actually cause will be known only on October 8 when the election results are out.
