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With eight out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh going to polls on April 26 in the second phase of general elections, including Aligarh, Amroha, Ghaziabad, Baghpat, Bulandshahar, Meerut, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Mathura, the electoral campaign in India’s politically most crucial State peaked with top leaders leaving no stone unturned in reaching out to voters with contentious, polarising and long-standing issues taking centre stage in the political landscape. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, both of whom led the ruling BJP campaign in phase two, invoked issues of the Opposition declining the Ram temple invite and appeasement politics of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP).
Editorial | The big fight: On battleground Uttar Pradesh
Of the eight seats going for polls, the BJP in 2019 emerged victorious in seven, namely Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Meerut, Mathura and Gautam Buddha Nagar, with the lone seat of Amroha won by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Kunwar Danish Ali, who is now a Congress candidate from the same seat. The campaign in Amroha witnessed rallies by Mr. Modi and a joint rally by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and SP president Akhilesh Yadav. Mr. Modi, while campaigning in Amroha, claimed that the sitting MP and Congress nominee Mr. Ali had problems in chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai. “Will a person, who cannot accept Bharat Mata ki jai, look good in the Indian Parliament? Should such a person be allowed entry into the Indian Parliament?” he asked voters.
Three-corner contest
Mr. Ali is locked in a three-corner contest in the seat with BJP candidate Kanwar Singh Tanwar and Mujahid Hussain from the BSP. With roughly 40% Muslim electorate, it needs to be seen which way the minority vote will tilt. In the Aligarh seat, BJP nominee Satish Gautam, BSP’s Hitendra Kumar and the SP’s Brijendra Singh are fighting it out.
In another key western Uttar Pradesh seat of Baghpat, the BJP’s ally, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) candidate Rajkumar Sangwan is competing with Amarpal Sharma of the SP and Praveen Bainsal from the BSP. In the Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved Bulandshahr seat, Bhola Singh of the BJP is taking on the Congress’s Shivram Valmiki and the BSP’s Girish Jatav. In Mathura, yet again the triangular contest between the BJP, the BSP and the Congress will witness actor Hema Malini taking on Mukesh Dhangar of the Congress and Suresh Singh of the BSP.
The Prime Minister’s campaign focused on the INDIA alliance parties, the Congress and the SP’s rejection of Ram temple consecration ceremony invitation, accusing them of disrespecting Lord Ram. “The INDIA bloc parties rejected the invitation of Ram temple consecration ceremony. They have no respect for the tradition of our nation. After 500 years, the dream of a grand Ram temple is fulfilled in Ayodhya. When the people of the country built such a grand temple and forgiving all your [Congress] mistakes by inviting you for the consecration ceremony, these people insulted Lord Ram by rejecting the invitation,” said Mr. Modi in Amroha. Without naming Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Yadav, the Prime Minister alleged the duo carry with them a box of corruption, appeasement and dynasty. Mr. Adityanath’s campaign centered further on the Congress’s alleged tactics of minority appeasement with the Chief Minister accusing the Congress manifesto of intending to implement ‘Sharia law’ in India and redistribute public wealth to specific sections.
The INDIA alliance leaders pushed the narrative of 2024 Lok Sabha as important to save the country’s constitutional values and future of coming generations. “This election is to save the future of the coming generation and the Constitution,” said Mr. Yadav in his election speech in Amroha. The third key player in Uttar Pradesh, the BSP pushed the cause of separate western Uttar Pradesh State with its chief and former four-time Chief Minister Mayawati promising to take concrete steps in making this demand a reality.
