Ghaziabad bypoll: Parties look to other side of the tracks to secure a win
The assembly seat will go to polls on November 20 and, this time, it has 461,644 voters, according to the latest electoral rolls (till October end)
As campaigning for the Ghaziabad assembly bypoll reaches its crescendo, major political parties have turned their focus to areas beyond the Ghaziabad railway station, locally referred to as “linepaar”, because about 60-65% of voters in the assembly segment reside in these parts and have the ability to tilt the winning scale in favour of any candidate they choose.
The Ghaziabad assembly seat will go to polls on November 20 and, this time, it has 461,644 voters, according to the latest electoral rolls (till October end).
Office bearers of major parties said their focus is concentrated on the ”linepaar” areas as these are densely-populated pockets with a sizeable number of votes.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Sanjeev Sharma, who belongs to the Brahmin community, is contrating his campaigning in these areas. Even though he is a resident of Shalimar Garden is Sahibabad, Sharma has taken a house on rent in Vijay Nagar just so that he can campaign at the grass roots level.
The area across the tracks comprises undeveloped localities such as Dundahera, Bagu, Sain Vihar, Biharipura and Mirzapur, among others, and have a sizeable population of Dalits, other backward classes, and Muslims, making it vital for parties to garner votes from these parts.
“Our candidate has opened his campaign office in the ”linepaar” area. We estimate that this area has about 60-65% voters and so we need to campaign extensively there. We expect that people here will come out in large numbers to vote,” said Pradeep Chaudhary, media coordinator, BJP city unit.
Chaudhary said chief minister Yogi Adityanath is scheduled to hold a a major 3km roadshow in ”linepaar” area on November 16.They said party leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa will be in Ghaziabad on November 16 to campaign for Sharma.
“We expect the voter turnout in these parts to be more. So hectic campaigning is going on in this area and also in the city,” said Ashu Verma, BJP assembly convener.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) office bearers said their party was the first prominent political party to give a ticket to a candidate from across the tracks.
The SP has fielded Singhraj Jatav, a Dalit, as its candidate and the party is focusing on the formula of PDA of pichda, Dalit and alpsankhyak (backward, Dalit and minorities).
Faisal Hussain, the district president of SP, said the ”linepaar” areas have remained undeveloped and deprived of basic amenities. Also marring these areas are a plethora of civic issues.
“ We are expecting major support from voters there. Our leader, Akhilesh Yadav, has considered the concept of PDA and we expect to get support from these voters. We expect the voter turnout in “linepaar” areas to more than that in city areas, and this will prove crucial for victory,” said Hussain.
The SP office bearers said that they have major campaigns lined up in ”linepaar” areas in the coming days.
The Bahujan Samaj Party this time has field PN Garg, a vaish, as its candidate from the city area of Patel Nagar but the party said that it, too, was concentrating on areas from across the tracks.
“The ”linepaar” areas are our priority as it has about 65% voters and these voters will surely come out to vote unlike those in the city’s urban localities. That is why we have opened our campaign office there and also one in the city. In coming days, our party leaders will join campaigning,” said Dayaram Sain, district president, BSP.
Political experts said that the bypoll is generally marked by low voter turnout and office goers generally stay away from voting.
“The BJP has presence among urban voters and their turnout during bypoll remains on the lower side. So, it will have consequences. The BJP leaders often dismiss the PDA formula but the Lok Sabha elections are proof that it works. So, the fight is on between the BJP and the INDIA bloc candidates. In the bypoll, voters from lower income strata generally step out to vote and their turnout is vital for any party,” said KK Sharma, head of department (history) from CCS University, Meerut.