Farmer agitation fails to dent BJP in western UP

Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, March 11

The year-long agitation by farmers, widely expected to cloud the ruling BJP’s prospects in western Uttar Pradesh, barely presented a challenge with the party holding on to most of its electoral base in the region and losing only 14 seats over its 2017 score.

Of the 113 segments in western UP, which went to polls in the first two phases, the BJP won 77 seats as against 99 in 2017. BJP’s principal rivals SP (28) and RLD (eight) together won 36 seats against 18 in 2017. The RLD, having only one MLA in the 403-member Assembly in 2017, regained its lost base in the region.

Jats of the area consolidated behind RLD chief Jayant Choudhary, who gained some seats at the BJP’s expense. A striking feature of the western UP results is the large presence of Muslim candidates (19) in the SP-RLD list of 36 winners, signalling Muslim consolidation in some, if not all, seats in the area. It’s also a sign of retreating communal strife that marked the post-2013 Muzaffarnagar riot phase in the area. Equally significant is the defeat of firebrand BJP leaders Suresh Rana (Thana Bhawan) and Sangeet Som (Sardhana in Meerut) who made news during the riots.

In Kairana, too, SP’s controversial candidate Nahid Hassan defeated BJP’s Mriganka Singh despite Home Minister Amit Shah kicking off the BJP’s door-to-door campaign from this segment and personally visiting the homes of voters to flag the exodus of Kairana Hindus due to the fear of local gangs. It was Mriganka’s late father veteran BJP MP Hukum Singh who had first flagged the issue of Hindu exodus from Kairana, the worst-affected area in the riots. Shamli was the other affected area where RLD candidate Parsanna Kumar defeated the BJP.

Communal strife fading?

Half of SP-RLD winners (19 of 36) in region are Muslims in signs of fading communal strife in area hit by 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots

RLD regains base

• BJP wins 77 of the 113 seats in western UP against 99 in 2017 polls
• Its main rivals SP and RLD win 28 and 8 seats (total 36) against 18 in 2017
• RLD regains lost base after getting only one seat across UP last time