SAHARANPUR: On Tuesday, all roads leading to Saharanpur city are lined up with lotus flags and huge cutouts of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and PM Modi. As Yogi Adityanath along with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Raghav Lakhanpal took out a massive roadshow in an open, flower-decked vehicle in the evening, the waiting crowd on both sides of the pavement cheered with Jai Shri Ram chants.
Significantly, this is the third visit of the Chief Minister to Saharanpur in an apparent effort to contain the ire of the Rajput community, which has openly issued boycott calls against the BJP in Western Uttar Pradesh. Saharanpur goes to poll on Friday (April 19), in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections. Though the Rajputs, who traditionally vote for the BJP, organized maha panchayats in Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, and Meerut last week extending support for BJP’s rivals, the BJP leaders say that the effective intervention of Yogi Adityanath, Union minister Rajnath Singh and Haryana Chief Minister has helped to quell the dissent.
Sanjay Chauhan, a BJP worker from Behat, admits that there was discontent over only one Lok Sabha ticket for the community. “The issues have been settled now. We held a meeting yesterday and declared our support for the BJP after the top leaders assured us that our concerns will be addressed next time,” says Chauhan, who runs a hardware shop. “This election is between Hindus and Muslims. Only the BJP government at the Centre and state can rein in the majority Muslim community in this area,” says another BJP loyalist Mohit Goel.
Behat, one of the assembly seats in Saharanpur boasts of a large Muslim population. Saharanpur comprises the five assembly seats Saharanpur, Saharanpur Rural, Deoband, Rampur, Maniharan, and Behat.
Though the fault lines are wide open, the Muslim community brushes off any confrontation between Hindus and Muslims in the locality. “In this election, livelihood issues are more important. The wave is in favor of the Congress-SP candidate,” says Mohammed Aslam, another shopkeeper from the locality. With a triangular contest between the BJP, the Samajwadi Party (SP) — Congress alliance, and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Saharanpur, a Muslim-dominated constituency, has become one of the most keenly watched elections in western Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP has fielded Raghav Lakhanpal, for the third consecutive term, hoping to repeat its stunning 2014 performance. While Congress fielded Imran Masood, the BSP candidate Majid Ali is in the fray. Congress candidate Imran Masood, who hit headlines during the 2014 elections, with his controversial statement that “will chop off Modi into pieces,” is trying his luck for the third time. Though Masood switched parties after the 2019 election, the Congress workers are confident that he will get a comfortable majority this time with the support of the SP alliance.
‘Muslims account for 40% of the electorate’
Saharanpur has Muslims making over 40 per cent of the electorate. After winning the seat in 2014 under sweeping Modi wave by drubbling Imran Masood of Congress by 65,000 votes, BJP candidate Raghav Lakhanpal Sharma had lost the seat to BSP’s Fazlur Rehman in 2019 when SP, BSP and RLD were contesting in alliance. Saharanpur, the seat of Asia’s biggest Islamic seminary Darul Uloom in Deoband, comprises five assembly seats: Saharanpur, Saharanpur Rural, Deoband, Rampur Maniharan, and Behat.
Kairana, ‘a communal raga’
Earlier known for ‘Kirana Gharana’ of Hindustani classical music, Kairana is now known for its ‘communal raga’. In a three-cornered fight, BJP has reposed faith in MP Pradeep Chaudhury, SP has fielded Munawwar’s daughter Ikra Hasan.Mayawati’s BSP has fielded a retired BSF jawan Sripal Singh Rana.
Rampur
Rampur with over 51 % Muslim population, is set to witness an intriguing battle between BJP MP Ghanshyam Lodhi and SP’s Maulana Mohibullah Nadvi, a Delhi-based cleric. However, BSP has made SP’s job difficult by fielding Zeeshan Khan, who would dent SP core vote base.
Bijnor
Bijnor is in the kitty of NDA partner RLD, which has fielded Chandan Chauhan, its MLA from Meerapur. From Bijnor, Mayawati had contested her first election. However, this time it is being seen as a contest between RLD and BSP.
Muzaffarnagar
A Jat-dominated seat, Muzaffarnagar is witnessing a tough three-corner fight where Union minister and BJP candidate Sanjeev Baliyan is seeking a third term. He is, however, facing a tough challenge from SP’s Harendra Mallik, also a Jat. Meanwhile, making the contest interesting, BSP’s Dara Singh Prajapati is marking his presence by reaching out to potential voters.
Nagina
The reserved seat is witnessing a multi-cornered fight with BJP, SP, BSP and Chandrashekhar Azad of him Army in fray. In the 2022 Assembly polls, out of the five segments, SP won Najibabad, Nagina and Noorpur Assembly segments, but BJP got Dhampur and Nehtaur. If Chandrashekhar cuts into the votes of the BSP, the BJP candidate’s path would become easier.
Pilibhit
Though the slogans backing Maneka Gandhi are missing from political landscape of Pilibhit, as BJP has snubbed MP Varun Gandhi replacing him with Congress turncoat Jitin Prasada, yet the stage is all set for a fiercefight on the ground with SP having fielded Bhagwat Charan Gangwar. BSP has added colour to fight by fielding Anis Ahmad Khan alias Gulab Babu.