AURAIYAETAWAH: Reports that the Janata Dal leader Mr V.P. Singh had made inroads into his traditional stronghold in Etawah Farrukhabad and Mainpuri districts made the UP chief minister Mr Mulavam Singh Yadaymush back to his home district on Wednesday.
During his second helicopter hop to Etawah this month close on the heels of Mr V.P.Singh’s unexpectedly successful election tour Mr Yaday addressed as many as a dozen meetings in Etawah during the day mostly in his own assembly constituency of Jaswantnagar and over Yadav dominated areas of Bharthana and Bidhuna assembly segments.
What appeared to unnerve Mr Yadav were reports that some more outgoing MLAs from Etawah intended to quit his party and join the Janata Dal. Half a dozen Janata Dal (S) MLAs from Farrukhabad and Mainpuri have already defected from this side.
A close aide of Mr Yadav said the UP chief minister had gone to Etawah to take the latest baromeler reading and assess the impact of Mr V.P.Singh’s visit. His Wednesday visit was unscheduled and he had no official engagements in the district. The visit ended with a meeting of party workers in Etawah town where Mr Yadav inaugurated the Janata Dal (S) office.
Mr Yadav’s advisers fear that a mass exodus of members of the dissolved assembly from his cam to that of Mr V.P.Singh might not only set in a chain reaction elsewhere in Uttar Pradesh but also provide an infrastructure to the Janata Dal organisation in his political bastion.
A substantial split in the backward vote bank in this Yadav dominated region may not enable the Janata Dal candidate to win. But it will significantly weaken the election prospects of Mr Yadav’s men and enable the Congress to creep back to power.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 19, 1991
