A litmus test for OBC leaders in the next round of Uttar Pradesh election

Currently, in Uttar Pradesh, polls for the remaining three phases of the assembly elections have not yet been conducted, and the reputation of leaders of other backward classes (OBCs) from all political parties is at risk. In this election season, all political parties have included the leaders from these areas in their campaign efforts, and they have yet to face the consequences of their actions. Keshav Prasad Maurya, the state's Deputy Chief Minister, is heavily involved in the election campaign of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and is constantly on the go from one assembly seat to another. He is running for the Sirathu seat in the Kaushambi district, where he will face off against Pallavi Patel, a member of the Samajwadi Party.

Pallavi is fighting for the first time, but she is confident in her understanding of the caste equation in this election, and she believes she will be victorious. However, despite the fact that Pallavi's sister Anupriya Patel is campaigning on his behalf, Maurya is facing voter dissidence in the assembly seat he represents. Arvind Patel, a local citizen, said that he had been in the position of deputy chief minister and member of the legislative council ever since he was appointed. He has not met any of the residents in his area, and now that he is running for office, he is looking for votes. Om Prakash Rajbhar is another significant politician, as well as the President and MLA of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), whose destiny will be determined by the events of the next several months. Rajbhar is running for the Ghazipur district seat of Jehurabad. The BJP has paired him against Kalicharan Rajbhar, who is expected to make a dent in his vote total.

Rajbhar, on the other hand, faces the most serious threat from the BSP, which has nominated Shadab Fatima, a former renegade SP candidate. Shadab Fatima, a former MLA, is well-liked in his area and believes he has a good chance of winning the seat this time. Om Prakash Rajbhar considers himself to be the "founding father" of the SP-led coalition since he was one of the first leaders in Uttar Pradesh to cut relations with the BJP. If he does not do well in his constituency, he may be unable to achieve his goal of defeating the BJP in the state. Anupriya Patel, a Union minister, will also face a litmus test in the next rounds of elections for her party, Apna Dal, which has so far had a high rate of electoral success. Apna Dal is a Kurmi-centric political party founded by Dr. Sonelal Patel, Anupriya's father, and based in Ahmedabad.

Despite the fact that Anupriya is not running in the elections, her party's candidates are apparently experiencing the anti-incumbency tsunami in their respective seats, according to reports. Anupriya has been campaigning hard for her party, and she is hopeful that she will be victorious and that this triumph will determine her own destiny as well as the future of her party. Sanjay Nishad, the head of the Nishad Party, believes that this election is a make-or-break opportunity. He may demonstrate his strength by performing on behalf of his party in an alliance with the BJP, and the strength he demonstrates will decide the nature of his future relationship with the BJP. It is being discussed among the Nishad community concerning reservation under the Scheduled Caste category, but Sanjay Nishad has been unable to persuade the BJP to declare it despite repeated pledges to do so. If his party does badly in the elections, then the BJP and their relationship will be defined in the next months and years.

Swami Prasad Maurya, a former BJP minister, believes that his election this time would be critical to his political destiny. BJP candidate Surendra Kushwaha is running against Maurya in Fazilnagar, a newly created seat in the Kushinagar district. Maurya resigned from the BJP last month and joined the SP; he is running on the SP ticket. The BJP, which is determined to dethrone Maurya and revenge his treason, will put up a fierce fight against him in the next elections. Krishna Patel, another OBC politician, is the leader of the section that has broken away from the Apna Dal and formed its own political party. She is running as an alliance candidate for the Samajwadi Party and the Apna Dal in the Pratapgarh constituency (K).

Anupriya Patel has opted not to let her party run against her separated mother, making it easier for Krishna Patel to win the seat, which had previously been assigned to Anupriya Patel by the BJP. However, it remains to be seen how much effect Krishna Patel has on the seats in the surrounding area. In addition, the Congress will put the OBC leadership to the test in the following phases, with Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Kumar Lallu contesting the Tamkuhiraj assembly seat in Kushinagar, which is now held by the BJP. Lallu is up for re-election against candidates from the SP, BJP, and one of his own alleys.