E-Paper
SP-RLD alliance got Muslim support in western UP, but BSP played spoilsport
Poll results show that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) played spoilsport as its core Jatav voters supported BJP candidates on many seats of the region where the party had less support
MEERUT Muslims voted en mass for the Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal (SP-RLD) alliance in western Uttar Pradesh, which led to the candidates getting good victory margins on seats where Muslim voters were decisive, and in other constituencies where both Jat and Muslim voters were influential.
SP-RLD candidates, however, could not win where other castes didn’t vote in their favour, said political experts.
The alliance performed well in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts that have a good percentage of Jat-Muslim population. The 11-month-long farmers’ movement nuetralised hatred between the two communities after the Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013, which led to both Jats and Muslims voting for the alliance candidates.
Poll results show that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) played spoilsport as its core Jatav voters supported the BJP candidates on many seats of the region where the party had less support.
“Muslims wholeheartedly voted in favour of the SP-RLD alliance everywhere in the region, which ensured victory of alliance candidates where their votes combined with that of Jats. Alliance candidates lost in constituencies where they failed to get support of their community,” said political expert Jamshed Zaidi.
He said the expected 10-11% loss in BJP’s votes due to farmers’ movement, unemployment and other issues was silently covered by the transfer of BSP’s Dalit votes to the saffron party.
The SP improved its vote percentage by almost 12%, but a “silent understanding between the BSP and the BJP” helped transfer the former’s Jatav voters to cover up the loss of BJP, he said.
In Saharanpur, the BJP won 5 out of 7 seats. But the alliance candidates won Behat and Saharanpur Dehat constituencies, where Muslim voters were decisive.
BJP’s Mukesh Choudhary defeated former minister Dharam Singh Saini in Gangoh constituency of Meerut district. Saini had joined the SP after quitting the BJP ahead of the assembly election. A senior journalist of Saharanpur shared that four-time MLA Saini lost because he could not combine votes of Muslim with Saini voters who largely supported the BJP.
Brijesh Singh of the BJP won from the Deoband seat because Thakurs and other castes voted for him, and his rival, SP candidate Kartikeya Rana, failed to combine Thakur and Muslim votes.
RLD and SP candidates did well in Shamli and Muzaffarnagar districts where Muslim votes combined with Jat votes to pave way for the victory of the alliance. Here, Jat voters were largely polarized in favour of the RLD-SP candidates and their votes, combined with Muslims, helped the alliance sweep all three seats in Shamli district (Kairana, Shamli and Thana Bhawan) and four seats in Muzaffarnagar (Charthawal, Meerapur, Purkazi, Budhana).
The BJP candidates won the Muzaffarnagar city and Khatauli seats.
In 2017 election, the BJP had won six out of seven seats in Meerut district. But this time, the party won only three seats. Meerut Cantt is considered to be the party’s traditional seat and they won Hastinapur and Meerut South seats.
Muslim voters are considered decisive in Meerut city, Kithore and influential in Sardhana and Siwalkhas seats. SP candidates won Kithore and Meerut City seats by a good margin and Atul Pradhan of the SP managed to defeat BJP’s Sangeet Som on Sardhana seat by seeking votes of Gujjars and combining them with Muslim votes. On Siwalkhas seat, RLD candidate Gulam Mohd won because as the Jat voters supported the RLD.
“It’s now clear that the BSP had a silent pact with the BJP and it transferred its votes to the BJP to cover up the loss of their support base due to the farmers’ movement. Muslims supported the SP-RLD alliance everywhere in the region and even discarded Owaisi’s AIMIM that secured only 0.49% votes in UP, said Ghulam Mohd Jaula, veteran BKU leader.
BJP also made a clean sweep on seven seats of Bulandshahr and three seats of Hapur where Muslims are influential. But the SP-RLD alliance couldn’t combine their votes with other castes.
