While many of its rivals are still busy dissecting their performance in this year’s Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the victorious Bharatiya Janata Party is already working on a roadmap for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP is now trying to unlock the Yadav (OBC) vote bank, which is a significant factor in UP and Bihar. And some of its leaders feel they may just have found the key.
The virtual address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the 10th death anniversary of Chaudhary Harmohan Singh Yadav is being seen as a step in the BJP’s mega outreach towards the community. Harmohan Singh, a former MP and close associate of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, was also the founder of the Yadav Mahasabha. After him, the baton was passed on to Mulayam who later became UP chief minister and even defence minister of India. Harmohan Singh’s influence also grew when Mulayam became CM in 1989. So much so that, reportedly, people would call him “mini CM”, and Mulayam himself addressed him as “Chhote Sahib”.
“When the country’s democracy was crushed during the Emergency, all the major parties came together and fought to save the Constitution. Chaudhary Harmohan Singh Yadavji was also a fighting soldier of that struggle,” the PM said.
While Harmohan Singh Yadav was a former Samajwadi Party MP, his son Sukhram Singh Yadav was also a Rajya Sabha member. Harmohan remained active in politics for decades and served in various capacities as MLC, MLA, member of Rajya Sabha and national chairman of the Yadav Mahasabha. From Kanpur to Etawah, Kannauj, Farrukhabad, Firozabad, and Agra in Uttar Pradesh, Chaudhary Harmohan Singh Yadav once dominated the Yadav vote bank.
Now the BJP is seemingly trying to get powerful Yadav faces on its side in order to strengthen its 2024 campaign at a time when there appears to be a chink in the SP’s armour.
The Yadav community comprises the Dhosi, Kamariya, Gwal, and Dadhor gotras, and to reach out to them, the BJP has already prepared a blueprint.
After Mulayam’s daughter-in-law Aparna and brother Shivpal’s tilt towards the BJP, members of Harmohan Singh’s family getting close to the saffron party is being seen as a significant setback for the Samajwadi Party, which was for decades considered the first choice of Yadav voters. Harmohan’s grandson Mohit joined the BJP this year before the UP assembly elections. And speculation erupted in April when the late leader’s son Sukhram Singh Yadav went to meet chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Sukhram has recently been critical of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
According to sources, the BJP aims to win all 80 Lok Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh in 2024. After holding on to power in the state in this year’s assembly elections, the party has been eyeing the Samajwadi Party’s core Yadav vote bank. After snatching the SP’s stronghold Azamgarh in recent bypolls, the BJP has strengthened itself further in the region. Around 12 per cent of the Yadav community had voted for the BJP in the assembly elections this year and the party is looking to widen its base.
A total of 38 assembly seats and 10 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh are considered Yadav- dominated. These include most of the constituencies in the Etah, Etawah, Kannauj, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, and Kanpur Dehat districts. Political observers say that the BJP is now eyeing these seats in its bid for a sweep in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In order to reduce the influence of SP on these seats, a message could be sent out through Harmohan Singh Yadav’s family. However, while one of his sons, Sukhram, may have grown close to the BJP, another section of the family is still with the Samajwadi Party. The late leader’s sons Jagram Singh, a two-time MLA, and Abhiram Singh, who was a block chief, are in the SP. Apart from them, many close relatives are still in the SP camp. Observers say it will be interesting to see if other members of Harmohan’s family switch sides in the coming months.
Harmohan Singh Yadav, who started his journey from the Gram Sabha and went on till the Rajya Sabha, was among those who not only gave political power to Mulayam Singh Yadav but also helped establish the Samajwadi Party. There was a time when political strategies and even the cabinet of the SP government were decided from the house of Harmohan Singh Yadav. Now, it appears, preparations are on to hoist the saffron flag there.
Speaking to News18, UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said, “The BJP has been continuously bringing people into its fold from various sections of society, especially those big faces that have an influence in their communities. On the other hand, if you have a look at the Samajwadi Party, they are breaking up their alliances instead of adding people.”
So will the tilt of Harmohan Singh Yadav’s family members yield any results? “No caste is a slave to any particular person or party. Harmohan ji had good influence in the Kanpur and Bundelkhand regions, he also led a big social organisation (Yadav Mahasabha), and his image has been clean. Definitely, the BJP will gain if his family comes with us. His son is already associated with the BJP and has been participating in various BJP programmes. Now the entire family is coming with the BJP and it will definitely help the BJP,” said Tripathi.
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