Farmers Movement Archive

BJP’s polarisation strategy ineffective in western UP?

MEERUT Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders were doing their best to polarise voters in western UP on religious lines ahead of the UP elections but their efforts so far hadn’t yielded results, feel political observers.After the Muzaffarnagagr riots in September 2013, political polarization in the region (Meerut, Saharanpur and Moradabad divisions) worked magically for the BJP. The party won all 14 Lok Sabha seats in the 2014 elections and registered victory on 51 out of 70 seats of the region in the 2017 Assembly elections though it had won only 11 seats in the 2012 elections. Polarisation in 2017 election gave them a direct benefit of 40 seats, said political observers.But, the party’s “tried and tested strategy” suffered a jolt during the 13-month-long farmers’ movement against the contentious farm laws. The agitation brought the divided farmers’ community on a single platform again, irrespective of caste and religion. The movement also facilitated harmony between Hindus and Muslims, which was hit during the Muzaffarnagar riots, they opined.The RLD’s ‘Bhaichara’ conferences also played a vital role in this direction. Late Ajit Singh organized many such conferences and fielded Samajwadi Party’s Tabassum Begum as RLD’s candidate from Kairana in the Lok Sabha bypoll after the demise of BJP MP Hukum Singh and managed victory of ganna over Jinnah’. After Ajit Singh’s demise, his son Jayant Choudhary carried forward similar ‘Bhaichara’ conferences to promote harmony among people. Under the changed political and social equations, the BJP again decided to try out its old formula of polarization in western UP. Home minister Amit Shah kick-started his party’s election campaign from Kairana and raised the issue of ‘palayan’ (exodus). He met families that migrated and thereafter returned and appreciated UP CM Yogi Adityanath for “improved law and order situation in the area, which gave people a peaceful atmosphere to live in.”But apparently, party leaders’ efforts to polarize voters seem to be coming a cropper now. Villages said: “They now understand the politics of dividing people and would not fall in this trap again.” Maulana Zulfikar, state president of All-India Imams Association, said people had understood divisive politics. He said: “When they (BJP leaders) failed to mobilise people on the issue of exodus, union minister and MP from Muzaffarnagar Sanjeev Baliyan became a sympathizer of Muslims by raising questions over the decision of SP-RLD alliance of not fielding any Muslim candidate on six seats in Muzaffarnagar.” Maulana also believes that “tolerance of Muslims” was also making the saffron party’s efforts to polarize people ineffective. “We have asked people not to react and they are urged to believe in the strength of tolerance,” said Maulana who explained that Mahendra Singh Tikait formed the BKU on the basis of communal harmony and their sons Naresh and Rakesh Tikait eventually revived it by admitting publicly that supporting the BJP in three previous elections was their “big mistake”. Rehana Adeeb who runs an NGO ‘Astitva’ in Muzaffarnagar that works for the welfare of women stated: “We (Muslims) have been told to be patient and not react. This is the key point, which has deprived the BJP of getting any issue to mobilise polarisation.” Adil Choudhary, SP candidate from Meerut seat, reportedly made a comment on Monday: “We would see them after the formation of our government.” Subsequently, saffron party leaders reported the issue to the police, demanding action against him. Tejbeer Singh, a BJP supporter and pradhan of Harshauli village in Muzaffarnagar, opined that the election in the region would eventually be contested on communal lines. He said the farmers’ movement would not have an impact on polls after the withdrawal of three farm bills and 50% reduction in electricity bills. According to him, the BJP will retain power in UP. Singh, however, admitted that the farmers’ movement succeeded in “reviving the broken communal harmony in the region to an extent.”Gulam Mohammad Jaula, a popular farmer leader who was a close aide of farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, also said that Amit Shah’s Kairana visit and his bid to raise the exodus issue won’t be effective. “They won’t be able to do their vicious politics because people have understood their divisive policies,” said Jaula, adding that Muslims will vote for the SP-RLD alliance and not for Hindus or Muslims. Rashtriya Jat Mahasangh state president Rohit Jakhar also believes that the political atmosphere had changed in western UP. He said divisive politics had been exposed and the BJP will suffer loss after three elections of 2014, 2017 and 2019. “People, especially in the rural areas, are not allowing polarisation on the lines of religion. Soon, Jat leaders would be deployed in Muslim areas to mobilise communal harmony during elections,” he added. Political analyst Jamshed Zaidi also opined that the BJP was unable to effect polarisation despite efforts to revive the ‘palayan’ issue in Kairana. He cited examples of Siwalkhas, Khatauli, Purkazi and Shamli constituencies, where BJP candidates and their supporters were chased away during campaigning. Zaidi believes that this political and social change was due to the farmers’ movement and “the ruling party’s weak governance in tackling issues of inflation and unemployment.” S Raju9412366629

Hindustan Times

27-01-2022

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