Sandeep Mishra, of the Samajwadi Party, came out with a poster to honour the pre-poll alliance formed by the SP and the Congress. The poster depicts UPs current Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav as Arjuna and the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi as Krishna, in the city of Varanasi. Varanasis seat in 2014 Elections was won by the BJPs Narendra Modi, making Varanasi an important battleground for the 2017 UP Elections. Pradip Bhandari, the Founder of Jan Ki Baat, analyses the move by Sandeep Mishra: a complaint has already been filed against Mishra for his (mis)usage of religious characters to garner votes. The possibility of such an alliance and the motives behind it, be it beng guaranteed with Congresss seat-share or defeating the BJP and its face, Narendra Modi, is unknown. There also exists the possibility that the SP-Congress alliance may be a contingency plan.
Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, on a chariot and in costumes from the times of Mahabharata, are seen to be going to the battleground, in the poster. The tagline of the poster says, Two great warriors going ahead from development to victory. This drawing of parallels between the fictional-religious characters and the modern-day candidates is seen by many as a clever move meant to enhance the voter-base in UP.
What the future holds for the SP-Congress alliance, the basis on which seat-sharing would happen are some of the popular questions. The alliance may be a contingency plan in case either party is unable to get enough seats in the Elections of 2017. The nuances of the situation, however, are unclear.
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