SP, BSP See Court Request to Modi, EC to Delay UP Polls as BJP Tactic

Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court’s (HC) request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission of India (ECI) to immediately ban political rallies and public gatherings in election-bound Uttar Pradesh (UP) and postpone the polls by a few months in view of the increasing Omicron cases has raised eyebrows in the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

The two opposition parties have dubbed the HC’s request as a tactic of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to delay the elections because of its “impending defeat”.

“The BJP government knows that the people of Uttar Pradesh have made up their mind to bring Akhilesh Yadav to power in the state. Afraid of Akhilesh Yadav’s growing popularity, they are using every tactic to postpone the elections. Delaying the elections will harm the BJP,” an SP spokesperson requesting anonymity told Newsclick.

Former chief minister (CM) and SP president Yadav has teamed up with Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal to counter the BJ in the elections.

MH Khan, spokesperson, BSP, said that “where was the court when COVID-19 cases peaked in West Bengal and the Panchayat elections were held in Uttar Pradesh despite the devastation caused by the second wave”? “Not to comment on the High Court’s request, but to postpone Assembly elections for two to three months does not make sense. The HC could have instead ordered President Rule’s then held elections,” Khan told Newsclick.

The BJP has “received inputs that it will lose the elections. Therefore, it wants to postpone the Assembly elections. The BJP will still suffer if the elections are delayed as the people are fed up with the government and its anti-people policies”, Khan added. 

On Thursday, the court said that, if possible, the elections should be postponed by a couple of months because ‘Jaan hai to jahan hai’ (if there is life, there is everything). Only if there is life, election rallies and meetings can take place and the right to life has also been guaranteed under Article 21, the HC observed.

A single Bench of Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, while allowing the bail application of a petitioner in a case, said that the number of patients infected with Omicron is increasing and there is a possibility of a third wave. If this is not stopped in time, the consequences could be direr than the second wave of the pandemic, the court warned. 

The HC requested the ECI to immediately stop such rallies and gatherings and also order political parties to campaign through TV channels and newspapers. Countries like China, Netherlands and Germany have imposed complete or partial lockdowns due to the rising cases of Omicron, it observed. 

As the UP Assembly elections approach, political parties are mobilising lakhs of people by holding rallies and meetings, where it is not possible to follow COVID-19 protocols, including social distancing, in any way, the HC observed. 

To regain power in UP, Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and CM Yogi Adityanath and have been making frequent visits to UP to address one rally after another. For the last one month, Modi has been continuously visiting UP, especially the Purvanchal region, and announcing welfare projects. 

Modi laid the foundation of Banas Dairy Sankul, a dairy milk unit, in Varanasi, on Thursday. It was PM’s second visit to his Lok Sabha constituency in 10 days. He had inaugurated the first phase of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi on December 13 and attended a conclave of chief ministers the next day.

Preparations are underway in Meerut to welcome Modi for laying the foundation stone of a sports university in Salwa village of Sardhana on January 2, according to officials.

The ECI will review the situation in UP next week to take a final decision following the HC’s request. “Next week, we’ll go to UP to review the situation and then take an appropriate decision,” CEC Sushil Chandra was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. 

The state government announced night curfew and other restrictions on Friday due to the increasing Omicron cases. Maximum 200 people will be allowed to attend marriages and social functions at which all necessary safety protocols must be followed. Besides, officials were asked to ensure that people entering UP from abroad and other states are tested with extra attention to be paid to railway and bus stations. Criticising the curfew decision as senseless, opposition parties said that people anyhow don’t step outside after 8 pm due to the chilling cold.