“He may have got one more had he pressed or may have been offered a seat in legislative assembly post elections”, says a leader in the Samajwadi Party on the condition of anonymity. “He demanded the seats where the party has already declared the candidates or have gone to the RLD quota in the coalition, he added.
Ali Tahir, a Lucknow-based journalist says, “He was demanding too much. He may have bargained better some ix months ago but now it is too late.” Actually, with the joining of leaders like Swami Prasad Maurya, Dharam Singh Saini, equations have changed a lot. Swami Prasad Maurya has brought too many aspirants with him. Also, the Samajwadi Party has pitched itself strongly among the SC and OBC’s recently, so its dependency on outsiders has lessened. With some big faces like Vir Singh, Indrajeet Saroj, Lalji Verma among its ranks, and Dara Singh Chauhan in waiting, the socialist block is confident of retaining the power in the most populous state of India.
“Mayawati is no more in contention for power despite pitching her candidates”, claims Indrajeet Saroj, who was sometimes a big face in BSP. “Dalit voters of Uttar Pradesh are left with no other option because they have faced too many atrocities under the BJP rule and BSP failed to respond to their cause”, claims Saroj who is now the general secretary of Samajwadi Party. The same claims are being made by Ram Achal Rajbhar and Vir Singh, who are believed to be the big faces of deprived communities in the state.
Also, what went against Chandrasekhar is his closeness with Imran Masood, considered a big political face from Saharanpur. Imran Masood had recently left Congress to join Samajwadi Party along with two MLA’s, Naresh Saini and Masood Akhtar. After Swami Prasad Maurya and Dharam Singh Saini joined the Samajwadi party, equations have gone against Masood. It is now rumored that Chandrasekhar had called Imran from Akhilesh’s office. Imran’s own position in Samajwadi Party is not clear now.
One thing is clear, had Chandrasekhar bargained for six, seven seats some 6 months ago, as he is claiming now, he may have got. At present Samajwadi Party cannot offer him more than two, specially when Suheldev Bharat Samaj Party of Omprakash Rajbhar has got just 8 in the alliance. Ravan has yet to prove himself as an electioneering outfit. Though His party contested the assembly by-polls and the panchayat election held recently, the results weren’t so impressive. This also wrinkled his bargaining power.
Also, he failed to repeat the show of support among Dalit electorates, as he got from the Muslim community while participating in antiCAA protests. Political pundits feel, he is over-ambitious at this stage. Either he should work on the ground like Sanjay Nishad of Nishad Party and Omprakash Rajbhar or should contend with what he has got. Switching sides, knitting a new alliance every new day and a hard bargain will only spoil his future prospects and the political image.
