Ground Report | New Delhi: Jats Muslims votes in UP; Voting for the Assembly elections have taken place in western Uttar Pradesh and there is speculation that the BJP will lose. It is believed that Jat and Muslim voters together could pose a challenge to the BJP, according to the investigated report of Economic Times.
A month ago, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had made a controversial statement regarding the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections of 80 vs. 20. But Mohammad Shameen, 40, who runs a grocery store in Meerut, says the fight in Meerut is 60-40.
On February 9, the day before the vote, Shameen said, “The city has about 40% Muslim population and all of them have decided to vote for the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance. The BJP has no one here. There is no chance. “
In Meerut, the BJP has given a chance to young leader Kamal Dutt Sharma, who is contesting against incumbent SP MLA Rafiq Ansari. Meerut district has seven assembly constituencies. These are Meerut, Meerut Cantt, Meerut South, Sivalkhas, Sardhana, Hastinapur and Cathode. Voting took place here on February 10 and in the first phase in UP, the turnout was 60.1%.
New political equations are emerging in Western UP to win over old loyal voters. The Samajwadi Party, led by Akhilesh Yadav, has allied itself with Jayant Chaudhary’s RLD here to win the support of the Jats, who are angry with the BJP over withdrawing agricultural laws.
Meanwhile, the BJP is also trying to reach out to Jat voters by conducting door-to-door campaigns, accusing the Samajwadi Party of running a gang.
But voters in this important part of UP are divided. PL Ahuja, who runs a pottery shop near Ghanta Ghar, says, “BJP candidate Sharma will win in Meerut. Sharma’s image is clear. In addition to everyone else, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-e-Muslimeen and the Bahujan Samaj Party are fielding Muslim candidates, which will divide the Muslim vote.
During the lockdown, Muhammad Ansari had to close his sporting goods store. Ansari, who works for a daily wage, says only bicycles (SP’s election symbol) will work in the city. He asks, “I’m unemployed, isn’t that enough?”
The ET report said that the Jat-Muslim alliance, which had broken down after the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, had now reunited but in pieces.
In which direction is the wind blowing in Muzaffarnagar? To this question, Veer Chand, a resident of Nara village in the Charthaul assembly seat of the area, says, “60 per cent of the Jat voters are in favour of SP and RLD, while 40 per cent are in favour of BJP. However, in urban areas, the ratio is 50-50. There is still some anger against the BJP but our vote will go to him. In the current government, our daughters can move around freely and raise the voice of Hindus. Besides, we also get votes. Sugarcane arrears on time. “
Tyagi says the anti-government wave may reduce the margin of victory, but eventually, the BJP will form a government in Uttar Pradesh.
In some seats, the tug-of-war between SP and RLD is clear. Ittehad has given a ticket to former SP MLA Ghulam Muhammad on the RLD election symbol in Sivalkhas seat which has caused anger among Jats.
An RLD leader in the area said, “Why would the Jats vote for a Muslim candidate when the BJP is an option?” Candidates are allowed to fight on their own mark. “If he loses, the blame will go to the RLD, but if he wins, all the credit will go to the SP,” said one RLD candidate. Claim to give up your candidacy.
As far as the BJP is concerned, its traditional vote bank is being divided into Lodhs, Brahmins, Gujars and non-Jatao Dalits. In the last elections, the BJP had won all the seven seats in Balandshahr, but this time in view of the anti-government wave, the BJP has given tickets to new candidates in all the four seats like Kharja, Dibai, Bulandshahr and Secunderabad.
At the same time, Jatao, who is considered a strong BSP voter, is considering other options this time as well. Ashok Kumar Jatao, a farmer from Mansak Garhi village in Jatao village of Secunderabad, says, “It is useless to vote for BSP this time because Mayawati seems to be under some pressure. We are emotional with sister G but BJP That is why we will vote for Bhai (Akhilesh Yadav).
Many locals believed that it would be difficult for the BJP to win Secunderabad, Siana and Kharja seats this time.
However, this time Mayawati has fielded Muslim candidates in some seats, which could benefit the BJP. Muhammad Qurban of Syedpur Kalan village says, “BJP candidates will win easily as the Muslim vote will be divided between SP, BSP and AIMIM.”
An SP leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “The BSP has given tickets to many Muslim candidates in western UP. This is likely to divide our votes.”
In 2017, BSP was second with 58 seats. This time AIMIM has also fielded its candidates in 12 of the 58 seats. These include Meerut, Charthall and Loni. This can cut the votes of SP and RLD. “The most important thing is that there is no BJP wave here. There is a close fight between the BJP and the SP-RLD alliance,” says Pawan Kumar, a Jat farmer from Rajpur village in Anupshahr.
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