LUCKNOW: “Yeh Arun Govil ji ka election hee nahin raha. Yeh Ram ki pratishtha ka election hai (This isn’t an election for Arun Govil but for the prestige of Lord Ram). We will do everything to get a high voting percentage,” is the common refrain among the BJP cadre in Meerut, the land of revolution, which is poised for a battle of perceptions in the Lok Sabha elections.
Remember, the first war of Independence in 1857 began in Meerut. The constituency goes to polls on Friday.
While the BJP is riding on the perception of Lord Ram to see Arun Govil, the silver screen ‘Ram’ of 1987 TV serial, sail through, the Opposition INDIA bloc is confident that Samajwadi Party candidate Sunita Verma will pose a strong challenge because of her popularity among the Dalits and Muslims and her perception of being a good former Mayor.
Muslims and Dalits constitute over 50% of electorate in Meerut, making it a formidable combination. The BSP, too, is a claimant of the same combo, with Mayawati giving the ticket to Devvrat Tyagi.
Since all the three main candidates belonging to the majority community, the division of Hindu votes is inevitable. It is expected to put the BJP at a disadvantage.
BJP’s experienced MP Rajendra Agarwal had to make way for Govil. In 2019, Agarwal defeated BSP’s Haji Mohammad Yaqoob with a thin margin of little over 4,700 votes.
Govil, though tagged as an outsider by his rivals, is commanding attention and respect from the generation of viewers of the 80s, and also the section that got introduced to him via the telecast of Ramayan during the Covid period.
Leading the campaign in a simple kurta-pyjama, he is striving to shed his outsider tag through his promise of making Meerut, which is his janmabhoomi (birth place), his karmabhoomi (workplace) and permanent abode.
But SP’s Sunita, who belongs to the Dalit community, dismisses Govil as a ‘false Ram’, claiming elections can’t be fought on a past imagery. “BJP has committed a mistake by fielding Arun Govil, who does not belong to Meerut. Lord Ram is in Ayodhya, not on roads seeking votes. There could have been some fight if the ruling party candidate hailed from the constituency. I see no challenge,” says Sunita, the former BSP mayor of Meerut who switched over to the SP.
It was after much flip-flop that Sunita got the ticket. Initially, Bhanu Pratap Singh was the nominee. He was replaced by sitting SP MLA from Sardhana Atul Pradhan who, was seeking the ticket for his wife. Pradhan was finally axed and Sunita chosen instead.
However, BJP workers are confident of Govil’s win, hoping the Dalit-Muslim votes would be divided between the SP-Congress and the BSP. It is also depending on the Jat support from the RLD.