Mulayam Singh finding it tough in Azamgarh

Azamgarh: While the BJP may be trying desperately to polarise voters on communal lines, it doesn’t seem to be working in Azamgarh SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav’s new electoral turf.

Locked in a triangular SP-BJP-BSP fight, the constituency could go in any of these three ways.

Locals even say that they not be surprised if the SP chief loses his gamble. Azamgarh, which Narendra Modi’s key aide Amit Shah described as “‘atankgarh’ the base of terrorists,” is all set to witness a fierce battle on May 12, the last day of voting in this election.

A three-hour drive from Varanasi, the mofussil town of Azamgarh is a study in contrast. On one side it is home to scholars and poets like Shibli Nomani, Kaifi Azmi and Iqbal Suhail, among others, while on the other is the ever-growing list of newer icons like Abu Salem and Haji Mastan.

Lording over the town are khadi clad ‘bahubalis’ (musclemen) sitting BJP MP Ramkant Yadav and brother Uma Kant Yadav.

All was well and Ramakant had the edge, with a majority of Yadavs shifting to the BJP, till ‘Netaji’ (Mulayam Singh Yadav) decided to make Azamgarh his base to retain control over eastern Uttar Pradesh.

The exodus of Yadavs from the SP to the BJP suddenly stopped. Ramesh Yadav and his friend Ram Chandra Yadav the local contractors who had voted for the BJP in 2009, have decided to vote for the SP this time. “Ab toh Netaji aa gaye. unhe toh vote denge (Netaji is contesting this time, so we will vote for him),” they say.

SP leaders who have now set up camp in Azamgarh, are working overtime to get back ‘Mian Mulayam’s’ Muslim votebank.

But Obidullah, a carpenter, and his friends are not falling for this. “What has the SP done for us? The party uses us like a votebank. We have decided not to vote for the SP. No matter what,” he raged.

Locals say the tussle between Ramkant and Mul-ayam Singh Yadav is a political ‘guru-shishya’ battle for Yadav supremacy. Ram-akant was once a protégé of the SP supremo.