Muslim votes hold key in Saharanpur’s Gangoh

GANGOH(SAHARANPUR): By-election on the Gangoh assembly seat in Saharanpur has become a matter of prestige for the ruling BJP and its three rival parties-- the BSP, SP and the Congress-- making it one of the most vigorously fought byelections of late.

This is the first election after the BSP and the SP severed their ties which they had stitched during the parliamentary elections but could not do well. Earlier, in 2018 by-poll election on Kairana parliamentary seat, the alliance of SP-RLD-BSP (undeclared) had done well and RLD candidate Tabassum Hasan had defeated the BJP candidate Mriganka Singh.

The by-election in Gangoh was necessitated after the resignation by BJP MLA Pradeep Kumar, who contested the on Kairana Lok Sabha seat and won.

The BJP doesn’t want a repeat of Kairana by-poll . That’s is why its star campaigner chief minister Yogi Adityanatah has addressed rallies here twice, making Congress leader Imran Masood ask, ‘if BJP is so sure about its victory, then why the chief minister is visiting a small constituency again and again? .”

Imran Masood’s brother Nauman Masood is in fray as Congress candidate. Congress leader Syed Mohd Fazil Hussain says, “Nauman secured over 61,000 votes when the family was divided. Now, the family rift is over and they are united, which will make all the difference.”

Politics of Saharanpur revolves around influence of two families -- the Kazi family and the Yashapal Singh family. Rashid Masood heads the Kazi family. He was elected MP nine times and had also been a union minister. On the other hand, Yashpal Singh was a prominent Gujjar leader who had been five times MLA and also a minister. Imran Masood is nephew of Rasheed Masood. They parted ways during the 2017 elections. Now the family is united and they are working hard for Nauman’s victory.

Samajwadi Party has once again fielded Yashpal Singh’s son Indersain. He is a Gujjar. The constituency has 45,000 Hindu Gujjars. He is banking on the combination of Muslims and Hindu Gujjars for his victory.

The constituency has over 3.7 lakh voters in which an approximate share of 1.2 lakh Muslim and 50,000 dalit votes plays a vital role in deciding the victory of a candidate. The BJP is banking on the approximately two lakh Hindu voters (excluding dalits), which comprises Hindu Gujjar, Saini , Rajput, Vaishya, Brahmin, Kashyap and Kori. The party has fielded Keerat Singh for whom Yogi had twice visited the constituency.

BSP candidate Chaudhary Irshad is also contesting the by-election on local issues of farmers, development and employment and is also banking on the Dalit-Muslim combination, working on which the BSP defeated the BJP`s sitting MP from Saharanpur Raghav Lakhanpal in previous Lok Sabha elections.