Ghost of civic polls haunts BJP veteran in saffron bastion

Varanasi, Apr 26 (UNI) Will five-time BJP MLA Shyamdeo Roy Chaudhury Dada' be lucky to win for the sixth time from the Varanasi (South) assembly segment which goes to the polls on May 3 ? Also known as ''Gandhi of Kashi,'' the easily accessible Dada, also a former Uttar Pradesh minister is faced with internal rebellion in his party on a seat which has returned BJP victorious seven times in the past four decades.

The problem for Dada, whose name has become synonymous with the seat stems from the recent civic body polls, where the veteran BJP MLA was instrumental in getting at least four rebels elected as municipal corporators against official party candidates.

All four BJP 'mandals' of the constituency are now either working against Dada by openly supporting ruling Samajawadi Party candidate Dilip Dey -- also a Bengali like Dada -- or else have gone into hibernation despite repeated calls by their once favourite leader to accompany him into the bylanes of the largely riverine constituency.

''Dada is campaigning with those who won the civic elections on his support against official party candidates. If those expelled from the party are going to move around with the 'lotus' flag then we will better stay away from Dada this time and are not bothered if the SP or Congress candidate benefits consequently,'' an important office bearer of the Kashi Vishwanath BJP mandal told UNI.

The electoral passage of SP candidate Dilip Dey is also a bumpy one with his own Bengali community that forms over 30,000 of the about 2.75 lakh electorate fully against the candidate who lost to Dada in 1989 and 1993.

''We are not going to work against Mr Dey, but at the same time we are not going to solicit votes for him,'' said one of the two SP women candidates who lost the civic polls owing to mechinations by Mr Dey. Besides, the outspoken attitude of Mr Dey is also working against his prospects of wresting the seat from the BJP veteran.

Another factor working against the SP candidate is that a large part of party in the assembly segment led by a trader community leader is working silently against Mr Dey.

The seat represented in the past by Jansangh (erstwhile BJP) leaders Sachindra Nath Bakshi and Rajbali Tiwari has returned 'Dada' victorious five straight times -- 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996 and 2002.

The victory margin of Dada, however has fast been declining from a peak of more than 44,000 votes in 1991 to less than half at 20,000 votes in 2002.

The constituency comprising the heart of the holy city houses a total of 2.75 lakh voters and caste wise is dominated by Brahmins (60,000), Bengalis (30,000) other linguistic minorities (20,000), OBC including Yadavs (50,000), Muslims (50,000) and Vaishyas (30,000).

While the SP candidate Dilip Dey is banking on Muslim-Yadav-OBC power to perform the giant killing act, young Congress candidate Daya Shankar Mishra 'Dayalu' is attempting to break the hold of BJP among the Brahmin voters plus trying to create a wave in his favour among Muslims.

''Both Congress and SP candidate owing to their personal image are unable to prevail over BJP's Dada who is banking on his USP of being accessible to his voters round the clock. He never forgets to attend functions and mournings in every house where he is invited, which neutralises his non-performance as an MLA and even makes him popular among a significant part of Muslim population,'' political analyst and senior scribe Amitabh Bhattacharya said.

Add to this his style of campaigning by walking alone or with a handful of supporters to every door of his constituency. Even when he was a UP minister, he did not move around with official body guards in a car, but instead moved on a rickshaw, mobike or on foot and mingled with people just like in the past, Mr Bhattacharya added.

''As things stand now the assembly seat which in past has also been represented by Kailash Tandon, Rajnikant Dutta (Congress) and Rustom Satin (CPM) looks set for a triangular contest between BJP, SP and Congress. But eventually the BJP veteran is likely to scrape through but by a water tight margin on the back of his popularity among the voters,'' Mr Bhattacharya added.

UNI