Its a battle between saffron, red and blue in Purvanachal that will decide Uttar Pradesh's fate
Eastern Uttar Pradesh also called Purvanchal is like a chameleon. It keeps changing its colour. In 2007, Purvanchal changed to Mayawati's blue, in 2012 to Samajwdi's red and in 2017 it embraced BJP's saffron. " In 2017 of the 164 seats, BJP along with its ally Apna Dal and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) demolished the Opposition by winning 115 seats in the region. Even as the BJP looks poised to retain its grip in eastern UP, recent exodus of the OBC leaders from the party has somewhat shaken the saffron caste cauldron. A host of OBC leaders including Swami Prasad Maurya, Dara Singh Chouhan (Nonia) and Dharam Singh Saini and the SBSP joined hands with the Samajwadi Party. The SP also stitched up alliances with smaller backward outfits like Janvadi Party(Socialist) and Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) led by Krishna Patel. The SBSP being viewed as the emerging Dalit brigade holds sway over nearly 18 per cent of the Rajbhar community in eastern UP. With Janvadi Party in i