By-polls in Western Uttar Pradesh: the leaders begin campaigns

As the hype on the Karnataka elections slowly dies down, another state gets ready for the by-polls among the changes in the political atmosphere.

Western Uttar Pradesh is getting ready for by-polls on the 28th of May. While the Kairana by-election follows the demise of its long-time incumbent BJP veteran Hukum Singh, the by-poll in Noorpur was necessitated on account of the death of BJP MLA Lokendra Singh Chauhan.

Will the BJP stake their claim in the constituency as the party’s rivals- the SP-BSP, RLD and the Congress are trying to campaign their candidates and turn the voters to favour them?

As usual, the pointing of fingers, the laying of blame on the other’s doorstep and polarizing the situation has begun.

Recently, CM Yogi Adithyanath, while supporting BJP’s candidate Mriganka Singh has mentioned the issue of Muzaffarnagar riots and Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s portrait in his speech.

“The SP government had pushed west UP region into the fire of communal riots. The party has a blot of the riot on it and that is why it has fielded its candidate on the symbol of another party,” Yogi said at the rally.

The UP CM three times in his speech, referring Muzaffarnagar riots between Jats and Muslims, named Jat youths Sachin and Gaurav. The duo was allegedly lynched in Muzaffarnagar’s village in 2013 after they accused Shahnawaz Qureshi of harassing their relative and allegedly killed him.

But is that really the case? The late BJP leader Hukum Singh confessed to the media: “I was misinformed that Hindus were leaving on account of harassment by Muslims from Kairana. Inquiries made by me later disclosed that this was not a Hindu-Muslim issue, but the exodus was happening because of increasing goondaism in the area.” Hukum Singh himself furnished a list of 254 people who were alleged to have moved away from Kairana due to intimidation by Muslims.

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Will polarization and communal politics work this time round for the Yogi Adithyanath, who had lost in his own bastion Ghorhapur and in Phulpur, although the party won in the elections?

The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has fielded Tabassum Hasan who is being supported by the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress.

The BJP already stood quite rattled by the grand alliance of Opposition parties — SP, BSP, RLD and Congress — that virtually formed a strong caste barrier.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is also not likely to campaign in Noorpur where the SP has fielded its candidate with the backing from the RLD.

Confirming the development, SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said it was part of party’s strategy to keep away from the public campaign and instead opt for door-to-door meetings. “Akhileshji is in regular touch with party workers and is mobilising voters in favour of the joint opposition candidate,” said Chaudhary. In fact, Akhilesh, instead of addressing the rallies, has limited himself to issuing appeals, asking people to vote in favour of the SP-backed RLD candidate from Kairana, Tabassum Begum.

RLD spokesperson Anil Dubey, too, said the party was restricting itself to micro-meetings as part of its strategy to take on the BJP. “RLD president Ajit Singh and vice-president Jayant Chaudhary have been holding small meetings while going from village to village. There is no need to hold big rallies like BJP,” Dubey said.

Akhilesh has stayed away from campaigning despite being projected as a star campaigner by the RLD. Sources in SP and RLD said the joint opposition was wary of big rallies as that could lead to communal polarisation and may favour the BJP which is eyeing Jat and Gujjar votes. Dalits and Muslims alone account for around 40% of the electorate in Kairana and Noorpur.

Interestingly, Congress and BSP, though not in the fray, have refrained from openly rallying behind the SP-RLD combine. The two parties have instead asked their supporters to work silently for the SP and RLD candidates on the ground.

BJP, however, said Akhilesh was avoiding campaigning for a different reason. “Akhilesh Yadav cannot dare to face the people who suffered during his regime. It is only during the BJP regime that the people are feeling safe and getting to know about development,” said BJP’s west UP in charge Vijay Bahadur Pathak. BJP sources said the party is relying on consolidation of Jats, Gujjars and OBCs to take on the opposition. The party is also upbeat after the defection of lone RLD MLA Sahendra Singh Ramala and senior leader Chaudhary Sahab Singh to the saffron camp.

Significantly, PM Narendra Modi’s proposed rally in Baghpat is on May 27, a day before polling. RLD had petitioned the EC to cancel it but that demand was rejected on the ground that the rally was not being organised in poll-bound districts.