Ras Bihari
It is said that the road to Delhi passes through Uttar Pradesh. That is why this state has become important for every party to form the government at the centre. Considering the eight constituencies in the first phase in UP, there are clear indications that the BJP is benefiting from the division of Muslim votes. (Lok Sabha Election)
In the first phase of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Moradabad, Rampur, Nagina, Bijnor and Pilibhit constituencies are voting on April 19. The contests this time will be three-way, and the role of Muslim voters will be decisive in each of these constituencies. In the last general elections held in 2019, BJP won three seats namely Kairana, Muzaffarnagar and Pilibhit. To attract Muslim voters, Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded Muslim candidates in four out of eight constituencies namely Saharanpur, Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit.
Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party has given Saharanpur, the only constituency out of these eight, to the Congress. Congress has also almost decided to give ticket to the Muslim candidate from there. Samajwadi Party has fielded only Muslim candidates from Rampur and Kairana. But from Moradabad, this party gave ticket to Ruchi Veera at the right time. SP-Congress alliance and BSP have fielded Muslim candidates in Saharanpur and Rampur. BJP has given Bijnor Lok Sabha constituency to Rashtriya Lok Dal. Ralod has fielded MLA Chandan Chauhan there. There are indications that the BJP-RALD will benefit greatly due to the changing political equations.
In 2019 there was an alliance of SP-BSP and RLD. Congress had contested the elections on its own then. Back then, the opposition won in Saharanpur, Moradabad, Rampabar, Nagina and Bijnor on the strength of Dalit, Muslim and Yadav community votes. BSP won in Saharanpur at that time. This time BJP has nominated Raghav Sharma who won in 2014. Congress has fielded Imran Masood on the seat won by the alliance. BSP has played the Muslim card by fielding Majid Ali. There is no doubt that BJP will benefit from this by splitting the Muslim votes. It will also be clear from the elections this time whether the backward caste voters will stamp on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development politics or prefer the caste-based politics of the opposition alliance.
Kairana: This time, BJP has given another chance to sitting MP Pradeep Kumar who won from Kairana in 2019. Against him, the Samajwadi Party has nominated Ikra Hasan, while the BSP has nominated Shripal Singh. Last time, Pradeep Kumar defeated Tabassum Hasan of SP.
Bijnor: BSP's Maluk Nagar defeated BJP's Bharatendra Singh in the last Lok Sabha elections. This time BJP has given this seat to Rashtriya Lok Dal led by Jayant Chaudhary as per the rules of alliance. RALOD's Chandan Chauhan is pitted against SP's Deepak Saina and BSP's Vijender Singh.
Muzaffarnagar: BJP has won this seat twice in a row. This time once again BJP has given ticket to Sanjeev Kumar Balian. This time they can score a hat-trick of victories. Last time, he had defeated RALOD chief Ajit Singh. Interestingly, Ajit Singh was supported by both SP and BSP. Sapne Harendra Malik has been given ticket this time, while BSP has given ticket to Dara Singh Prajapati.
Nagina: In the last Lok Sabha elections, BSP's Girish Chandra, BJP's candidate Dr. Yashwant Singh was defeated. This time BJP has fielded Om Kumar. He is pitted against SP's Manoj Kumar and BSP's Surendra Pal Singh. Azad Party chief Chandrashekhar is also contesting from Nagina this time.
Moradabad: BJP has given ticket to Sarvesh Kumar Singh from Moradabad this time. Samajwadi Party here initially S. T. Hasan was nominated. However, at the same time, his address was cut and Ruchi Veera was awarded the candidature. S. T. Hasan had won from here last time. BSP has given chance to Irfan Saifi. Last time Congress nominated Imran Pratapgadi from here.
Rampur: Azam Khan used to dominate this constituency. Now their influence has declined. Last time, BJP's Ghanshyam Lodhi won the by-election after Azam Khan resigned from the Lok Sabha membership. This time BJP has once again given a chance to Lodhi. Samajwadi Party has given ticket to Mahibullah Nadvi and BSP to Zeeshan Khan. (Lok Sabha Election)
