Lucknow: The BJP president Rajnath Singh v/s comedian, actor Jaaved Jaaferi of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fight in Lucknow is being keenly watched. The surprising entry of comedian, dancer, "Boogie Woogie" star and reality TV show judge and host Jaaved Jaaferi as the AAP candidate against Rajnath Singh has added an interesting dimension to the electoral choreography in this VVIP constituency. However the real fight is between Rajnath Singh and the Congress candidate Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
Rita Bahuguna, former president of UP Congress and a sitting MLA is giving a tough fight to the BJP chief, who has shifted from Ghaziabad to the UP capital. As a political analyst says "the relevance of Jaaved Jaaferi is limited to entertainment and novelty value at best in this election".
Moreover, Jaaferi has no past connection with Lucknow. The AAP has parachuted him from Mumbai to create some AAP "wave" in the city of Nawabs. Lucknow has a seizable Muslim number of 4.5 lakh votes and he may get a big chunk of them. But, Jaaferi is reluctant to play the Muslim card. He claims that he does not believe in the communal politics and wants to represent all castes and religions.
Some feel that if he plays the Muslim card and splits community votes, it will finally help the BJP chief to win the seat. Others argue that Jaaferi belongs to the Shia sect of Islam and the Shias have 1 lakh votes in Lucknow. The Sunnis have remaining 3.5 lakh votes and they are unlikely to back a Shia in full force. According to a known Shia personality and cricketer Mohsin Raza, Jaaferi is losing the election very badly as the fight is between only BJP and Congress. He claims that Shias have been backing the BJP since former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee's days and will continue to do so.
Others argue that some youngsters are running behind him because of celebrity status and that will not convert into votes for him. These caste calculations leave Jaffrey with no votes of his own.
But, Jaaferi is not losing the hope. He has come up with an interesting rap music video as part of his campaign. The video features Jaaferi in his 'Salaam Namaste' avatar of an 'Indian cowboy', mocking other political parties over scams and divisive politics. The video starts with the oldest montage of Doordarshan and signature tune 'Saare Jahan se Achcha', and then Jaaferi appears on screen in his cowboy avatar, making some sarcastic comments on the song in reference to the Indian system.
Since 1996, the Muslims candidates fielded by the Samajwadi Party (SP) have lost election in Lucknow and there is no history to back Jaaferi's candidature. In 2009, the SP tried to parachute actor Sanjay Dutt from Mumbai, but was forced to drop the idea after the Congress made a big and hue cry over his candidature.
Rita Bahuguna Joshi, daughter of former UP chief minister and a political stalwart is supremely confident of her victory. She says that Lucknow will be the theatre of the Congress' war against communal forces. She is banking on the 4.5 Muslim votes, 2.5 lakh Brahmin votes and 1.25 lakh Dalit votes in the constituency.
Rajnath Singh is banking on 2.5 Vaish, 2 lakh backward class, 1.25 lakh Kayastha and 60,000 Thakur votes to win the seat. He is hoping that the SP candidate will eat into Muslim and Brahmin votes in Lucknow.
Lucknow is voting on April 30.
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