Lok Sabha elections 2024: Muzaffarnagar baaki hai

Community voters in western Uttar Pradesh might influence political change especially given the historical context of the Muzaffarnagar riots and shifting political sentiments The diversity of perspectives among Muslims and Rajput adds complexity to the regionrsquos political landscape It will be interesting to see how thesedynamics play out in upcoming election results and whether they lead to any significant shift in representation or policiesThe first phase of the seven phases of Lok Sabha elections took place on April 19 in eight constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh including Saharanpur Kairana Muzafarnagar Bijnor Moradabad Rampur Nagina and Pilibhitmidday visited the villages and parts of Muzafarnagar where riots broke out around a decade ago interacting with Muslims Rajput and Hindus to learn that people here need a changeThe Rajput took a decision to go against BJP We met Thakur Puran Singh 47 the founder of Kisan Majdoor Sanghatan He hails from Nasirpur village in Muzafarnagar which has around 700 houses Singh who headed the farmersrsquo protest a few months ago said they started a campaign against the BJP by walking around villages in the eight constituencies and meeting people from the communityThakur Puran Singh along with villagers from Nasirpur MuzafarnagarldquoIt was a lsquochatriya swabhiman yatrarsquo for our respect and dignity We were the core voters but have things changed in the past few years I am sure that the whole community has voted against them We havenrsquot seen whether itrsquos Iqra Hasan from Kairana or Imran Masood from Saharanpurhellip we just vote for the constitutionrdquo he said adding that the community is strong enough and doesnrsquot need leaders to save them ldquoThe riots were a small incident that resulted in a big issue which later ignited politically But on the ground both communities are staying happily togetherrdquoAccording to Singh the polls in western Uttar Pradesh will decide the further political landscape of the state ldquoThe five seats including the Muzafarnagar Saharanpur Kairana Bagphat and Bijnor were only in the hands of BJP because of the Rajput votes The population here is mostly Muslim and Rajput The Rajput are against the BJPrdquo he saidSingh further stated that Kairana had around 750 lakh Muslim voters and 115 lakh Rajput voters Muzafarnagar 50 lakh Muslim 135 lakh Rajput Saharnpur 750 lakh Muslim 135 lakh Rajput and Bijnor 659 lakh Muslim 120 lakh Rajput ldquoThe figure itself has disturbed them Even if the Rastriya Lok Dal party is supporting them they hardly have a majority bigger than this communityrdquoSalim Kasar from Bhangeela villageSatpal Singh a Rajput farmer from the village said they need a change this time ldquoThey are just playing divide and rule Earlier they were playing the community card by making Hindus and Muslims against each other Now they are playing the cast politics here Their lies are now known to everyone The government claims they have made roads but at the start of every road there is a toll booth and our pockets are emptied Where is the taxpayersrsquo money going thenrdquoAnkit Sharma 28 who works in a private bank said his brother is still waiting for a government job ldquoThe government claims they have provided jobs Two months ago the Uttar Pradesh police started recruiting They held exams and the papers got leaked after which the exams were postponed There are vacancies for around 60000 policemen For the last two to three years many youngsters are just waiting to be policemenrdquo he claimedIn Bhangeela village in Muzafarnagar midday spoke to a few voters Salim Kasar who irons clothes for a living said I am now 72 and have been voting since I was 20 years old ldquoThe only thing our village has is a road to reach But there is no school or hospital and for every small thing we have to move towards the city Itrsquos been a decade and there has been no change Shouldnrsquot the coming generation have better opportunities Or must we stay in the village doing odd jobsrdquoEshan Ali 38 a doctor from the Bhangeela claims the village has around 800 Muslim voters and around 2600 others ldquoHarendra Malik the Samajwadi party candidate has built cemetary walls and is doing good for us Why should we vote for the BJP which is completely against the Muslims here They are playing the religion game and are against us They have removed mics and loudspeakers from our mosque The Supreme Court says it is okay within permissible noise level limits but they have just removed them But mics and speakers are allowed in temples If Samajwadi party comes to power at least we will be able to hear azaanrdquoRashid Kasar 43 another villager from Khatauli in Muzafarnagar said ldquoThe Muslims are mostly with the Samajwadi party We are not aware of the riots that took place here as we still have brotherhood We only speak about the change we need If an MBA degree holder has to sell chaat on the streets then what is the userdquoMeanwhile Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan the twotime MP who is contesting on a BJP ticket for the third time said ldquoPeople trust and support me The results will prove them all wrong Allegations about people not being allowed to vote are fakerdquoThreeway battleThe Muzafarnagar constituency has three candidates the sitting MP Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan from BJP Harendra Singh Malik from the Samajwadi party which has an alliance with Congress and Dara Singh Prajapati from the BSP In the 2019 Lok Sabha election Sanjeev Kumar Balyan won the Muzafarnagar constituency bysecuring 573780 votes while 567254 votes went in favour of Ajit Singh of the Rashtriya Lok Dal Balyani had a victory with a margin of 6526 votesCall for deploymentof special forcesHarendra Singh Malik the Samajwadi party candidate from Muzaffarnagar had written to the Chief Election Commissioner New Delhi asking for paramilitary forces to be deployed in BJP candidate Sanjeev Baliyanrsquos village Kutba Kutbi due to ldquobooth capturing by BJP agents deployed thererdquo He also stated that voters were being beaten up and chased away ldquoIn the interest of justice paramilitary forces should be immediately sent to village Kutba Kutbi so that fair elections can be held and everyone can cast their votesrdquo the letter states However the police denied any such incident took place