KAIRANA: Can Opposition recreate Gorakhpur magic?
Ajit Singh’s RLD is being backed by SP and has tacit support of both Cong and BSP. But can Jats, Muslims and Dalits come together to defeat BJP?
The BJP is facing a tough fight in Lok Sabha by-poll in Kairana, where the Opposition is trying to recreate the magic of Gorakhpur and Phulpur.
The seat has 16 lakh voters — nearly a third of them Muslim; also stake are a chunk of Jat voters, who have traditionally voted for Ajit Singh's RLD but had drifted to the BJP in 2014.
The BJP is locked in a contest with the RLD candidate who is being backed by the Samajwadi Party and has the tacit support of both the Congress and the BSP.
The BJP has fielded Mriganka Singh, daughter of Hukum Singh, whose death necessitated this by-election. Hukum Singh had won with over 50 per cent of the vote share; Yogi Adityanath, his deputy and some of the top ministers have campaigned relentlessly so that the BJP retains the seat. Tabassum, the opposition's joint Muslim candidate, has the distinction of having been a member of both the BSP and the Samajwadi Party; in fact, she recently joined the RLD, a party of Jats who have a majority in the constituency.
The Congress has been sensible and dropped out of the race after the SP-BSP combine tasted victory in Phulpur and Gorakhpur by-elections. Now, Kairana is being seen as a test case for the sustainability of the rainbow alliance. But the internal contradictions are far more complex in the western part of the state. So, the choice of candidate demonstrates exceptional politico-cultural assimilation and the unwavering resolve of the leaders to stay together.
There was speculation about Jayant, son of former union minister Ajit Singh, contesting the seat himself but the selection of the candidate was dictated by the exigencies of coalition politics. Tabassum is wife of former Samajwadi MP Munnawar Hasan. Their son Nahid Hasan is an SP legislator. It is unique in that sense: A candidate so entwined with SP and BSP is contesting on the RLD symbol. After the 2013 riots in Muzaffarnagar, the social fabric of this region was in tatters. This is also an attempt to bring the dominant Jats together with Muslims and Dalits, a traditional rainbow coalition of social groups the region was known for.