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Peace Party stirs the waters in eastern UP - Express India
- Sanjay Singh
- If the recent Domariyaganj bypoll showed that the slide in the Samajwadi Party’s fortunes in the state hadn’t been stemmed, it also indicated the slow and steady rise of a little-known outfit of eastern Uttar Pradesh, Peace Party of India. By getting more votes than both the SP and the Congress, the PPI sent a strong signal to the two parties that its growing popularity among the state’s Muslim voters, particularly the poor, could not be ignored. And that when it went against the grain and fielded a Hindu candidate. This was the second time the PPI had made its present felt in the area after putting up a good show in five constituencies during the last Lok Sabha polls.
- What makes the defeat worse perhaps for the party is that its former leader and now no-holds-barred enemy Amar Singh is supporting the PPI. Along with film star Sanjay Dutt and MP Jaya Prada, Singh had participated in a rally organised by the PPI in Domariyaganj.
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What is worrying the two parties more is a change in the PPI’s strategy to expand its base beyond core Muslim supporters. The candidate fielded by the party this time was Sachchidanand Pandey, and it has entered into an alliance with two other little-known but important outfits — the Bhartiya Samaj Party and the Janvadi Party.
“Our political strategy is based on the successful tricks adopted by the BSP in the past elections. Like the BSP, we are focusing on expanding our base among backward Muslims and fielding candidates from different communities,” a source in the PPI said.
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