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battle varanasi
BJP hopes for some ‘magic’ in Barasat
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Jaunpur in UP set for multi-cornered contest
After Modi, Mulayam attacks EC
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Congress or AAP, Muslims in dilemma
Inclined towards Arvind Kejriwal, Muslims in Varanasi to take final call before polling on May 12 Shahira Naim Tribune News Service
Member of the All-India Handloom Board Hasan gives the example of Benaras handloom as the finest instance of the city's Ganga-Jamuni (cosmopolitan) culture where both the communities produce the famed brocade for which the city is celebrated across the globe. "If Hindus supply raw material, the weaving is mostly done by the 1.25 lakh Muslim families. Traders who sell the produce are Hindus," says Hasan, who fears this age-old delicate relationship between the two communities coming under stress by the overtly Hindutva-centric campaign of BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Varanasi. Muslims constitute 20 per cent of the electorate in Varanasi. This time, they have four major non-BJP options to choose from - AAP's chief Arvind Kejriwal, Congress' Ajai Rai supported by the Quami Ekta Dal (QED), Samajwadi Party's Kailash Chaurasia and BSP's Vijay Prakash Jaiswal.
This time, he has decided not to contest the Varanasi seat in order to avoid a dangerous religious polarisation of votes. He has given a call to support his otherwise arch rival - Congress' Ajai Rai in order to defeat Modi. The impact of this electoral understanding on the overall Muslim voting behaviour is being discussed in the city. The Muslims of Varanasi are in a dilemma. While AAP's Kejriwal appears to have won their hearts, the practicality of supporting the candidate of a national party like the Congress, who would be able to check Modi at the national level, is also working at the back of their minds. Starting early, Kejriwal has already made inroads into some localities, including Reori Talab, Peeli Kothi, Bajardiha, Chauka Ghat, Madanpura, where a large number of Muslim weavers reside. Azeem Baba an exporter living in the Chauka Ghat Silk Weavers' Colony is impressed by Kejriwal and articulates what is largely the feeling among the minority community. "Ajooba shakti hai. Hum se paise lekar chunav ladne ki baat karte hain. Lekin kahin vahan vote daal kar hum Modi ko aur mazboot na kar dein". (AAP has unique strengths. The party asks us for money to contest elections. But I fear that by supporting AAP, I may be strengthening Modi.) President of the Silk Weaver's Colony Cooperative Society Kamal Akhtar also admits that the Muslims are more inclined towards Kejriwal but would take a final call before the polling begins after assessing the then respective strengths of the candidates opposing Modi. Analysing the likely Muslim voting behaviour, Akhtar said: "While the upper class Muslims are Congress loyalist, the working class are more inclined towards Kejriwal." The winning prospects of Maodi would improve if the three lakh Muslim votes are divided between the Congress and AAP. A senior Congress leader, SM Sultan, said the BJP was running a campaign in the city about Kejriwal gaining popularity and this might confuse the Muslim voters. Meanwhile, to ensure the Muslim support for the Congress, senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad met Sheher Qazi Maulana Ghulam Yasin and Mufti-e-Banaras Abdul Batin Nomani - the senior-most Muslim clerics in the city. Non-BJP options
Muslims constitute 20 per cent of the electorate in Varanasi. This time, they have four major non-BJP options to choose from — AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, Congress' Ajai Rai supported by the Quami Ekta Dal (QED), Samajwadi Party's Kailash Chaurasia and BSP's Vijay Prakash Jaiswal.
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BJP hopes for some ‘magic’ in Barasat
BJP's PM nominee Narendra Modi recently campaigned for the magician at Barasat. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Kakali Ghosh Dastidar won the seat by defeating the Left Front candidate, Sudhin Chattopadhyya by a margin of 2,00,000 votes. She
got 522,53F0 votes while Chattopadhyya polled 399, 629 votes. This time, the Left Front has fielded the Mortaza Hossain and the Congress Raja Ghosh. The elections will be held on May 12 along with 16 other constituencies in the state. As many 12,26,664 voters will exercise right to vote. Barasat has remained
the stronghold of Forward Bloc. The Barasat Lok Sabha constituency has seven Assembly segments of Habra, Asokenagar, Rajarhat New Town, Bidhannagar, Madhyamgra, Barasat and
Deganga.
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Jaunpur in UP set for multi-cornered contest
Unlike Varanasi, where every person has an opinion, people in Jaunpur are cautious and don't reveal their political views. Sitting Jaunpur MP — mafia don-turned-politician BSP's Dhananjay Singh — is out on parole and is contesting as an Independent. He was thrown out of the BSP after he and his dentist wife were accused in the murder of their maid in his official flat in New Delhi. A railway employee also charged him with rape. BSP chief Mayawati has fielded her cabinet colleague Subhash Pandey, who belongs to Jaunpur and had won the Machlishahr Assembly seat in 2007. The Samajwadi Party has complicated things for itself by changing its candidate at the last minute. The party gave the ticket to cabinet minister Parasnath Yadav instead of former minister KP Yadav. Yadav, who had been nurturing the constituency as the SP candidate for over a year, joined AAP and is contesting elections. The BJP has fielded KP Singh, a son of former Cabinet Minister Umanath Singh. He is the manager of the family-controlled TD Engineering College, which was the venue of BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi's public rally in Jaunpur on May 5.The BJP and the Apna Dal having an electoral alliance in UP. Congress candidate and Bhojpuri film star Ravi Kishan is a political novice and had been a star campaigner of the Congress.
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After Modi, Mulayam attacks EC
Ballia, May 8 Addressing a rally here, Yadav said when the Commission had banned BJP leader Amit Shah and Khan together for hate speech, then why was the ban on Shah revoked. "Khan was banned because he spoke in favour of Muslims. I also speak in their favour daily. If the Election Commission has guts, let them ban me as well. If speaking for Muslims is a crime, I am ready to be a criminal," he said. Yadav's remarks came just hours after BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi accused the EC of being biased and alleged that polling in the last three phases of Lok Sabha elections had not been conducted properly. Yadav expressed confidence of a Third Front government at the Centre and claimed that the Congress has shown inclination in joining the Front. "By saying that the Congress will not support the Third Front government from outside, it has shown intentions of joining the government," Yadav said during his rallies here. Promising more taxes on luxury cars and costly clothes, Yadav said that if his party was voted to power, it would bring down inflation.
— PTI
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