UP elections: Troubles mount up for BJP in first phase in direct contest with SP-RLD alliance

Sardhana, Bhainswal (Thana Bhawan) and Azizpur (Kairana)

Polls were held for 58 seats on Thursday in the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Assembly elections. About 58 per cent polling had been witnessed till 5 pm. However, long queues of voters could be seen even at this hour at several places, including the Azizpur village in Kairana. There were complaints of EVM glitches, too, from some of the places.

The final figures said there was an average of 60.17 per cent polling in the 11 districts that voted today. While the Kairana Assembly constituency registered the highest polling percentage at 75.12 per cent, Sahibabad had the lowest voter turnout at 45 per cent. The district-wise voting percentage was as follows: Shamli (69.42%), Muzaffarnagar (65.34%), Meerut (60.91%), Baghpat (61.35%), Ghaziabad (54.77%), Hapur (60.50%), Gautam Buddh Nagar (56.73%), Bulandshahr (60.52%), Aligarh (60.49%), Mathura (63.28%) and Agra (60.33%).

RuralVoice visited several of the areas during the polls. One got to see that the main contest was between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance. As for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), people could not even name its candidates at several places. An important thing to notice was that there was no split in the Jat and Muslim votes. One did find, however, that some of the Dalit voters were supporting the BJP.  

The good thing was that barring a few stray incidents, tension was not visible anywhere. Nowhere did the situation turn bad enough for the police and the administration to strictly intervene. True, there were complaints of voters’ names being struck off the rolls. But these complaints ran for voters across the political spectrum.

Among the high-profile seats, the challenge seems to be getting tougher for BJP’s sitting MLA Sangeet Som in the Sardhana constituency of Meerut district. This is Som’s third election. Besides the Jats and the Muslims, even the Gurjars here could be seen supporting the SP-RLD alliance. Atul Pradhan had lost here last time by a margin of 24,000 votes. The alliance has fielded him as its candidate this time. Said Ajay Kumar, a Jat farmer from the Chandana village here, “Most of the Jats are in favour of Pradhan.” Ashok Singh from the Bitawada village of the Budhana constituency and Jasvir Singh from the Simbhalka village of the Shamli constituency were also of the same opinion.    

A visit to several of the villages in the Thana Bhawan Assembly constituency of Shamli district revealed that the Jat vote was intact even here. Rajbir Singh and Udayvir Singh, residents of the village Bhainswal, said that there was much resentment among the voters against Suresh Rana, the Cane Development Minister of the state. Umesh Panwar, a member of the Zila Panchayat and local RLD leader, said, “It is the alliance candidate who is getting the majority of the votes here.”

Both the BJP and the SP-RLD alliance have fielded Jat candidates from the Shamli constituency.  There was even a scuffle with RLD candidate Prasanna Choudhary at the polling booth at Hindu Kanya Inter College in Shamli town. The police had to show some strictness. One could see the Jat voters from the big villages here supporting the alliance. The Jat vote was not seen going in favour of Tejinder Nirwal, the BJP candidate and sitting MLA from this constituency. But he may gain from the votes of the trading community and the Dalits in the urban areas. Ramvir Singh from the Dabthua village of the Siwalkhas constituency said, “The Jats have voted for RLD candidate Ghulam Mohammed.”

Mriganka Singh, the BJP candidate from the news-making Muslim-majority Assembly constituency of Kairana, seems to be in a weak position once again. She is the daughter of the late Hukum Singh, who had been a tall leader here. One could sense an air of disappointment at the meeting at her residence, where not many people were present. Muslims could be seen voting in large numbers in this constituency. There are about 8,000 Sikhs here, whose vote is on the side of the SP-RLD alliance. In the Jat villages like Aamvali and Kamalpur, the majority votes have gone to the alliance candidate Nahid Hasan, thanks to the RLD. There are about 20,000 Jat voters here. However, most of the voters were seen in favour of the BJP in the Gurjar-majority village of Kandela.  

The BSP is getting only part of the Dalit votes. The BJP and the alliance have also staked their claim on these votes. One could see the banner of the BSP candidate, too, in Meerut Cantt and some of the voters supporting the BSP on the Sardhana Road in Meerut Cantt. This constituency is said to be the RLD’s weakest. However, the Jat voters are casting their votes in the name of Jayant Chaudhary even here.