Muzaffarnagar: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is campaigning today in Western Uttar Pradeshโs Muzaffarnagar. This comes a day after Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav along with his Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) ally Jayant Chaudhary launched a sharp attack against the BJP. Mr Yadav had dismissed the BJPโs poll issue of the exodus of Hindus from Kairana as well as BJPโs post poll alliance offer to Jayant Chaudhary saying, โWho is accepting their invitation? Imagine what condition they are in that they are compelled to invite?โ Mr Chaudhary himself had also dismissed the offer earlier saying that he is not a โchavanniโ that he will flip so easily.
Mr Shah, while addressing the public during a campaign programme, said, โAkhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary are together only till counting. If their (SP) government is formed, then Azam Khan will sit (in their government) and Jayant Bhai will be out. Their candidatesโ list can say what will happen after elections.โ He also challenged Akhilesh Yadav saying, โAkhilesh babu is not even ashamed, yesterday he said here that the law and order situation is not good Akhilesh babu, today I have come to give our figures in a public programme, if you have the courage, declare the figures of your regime in a press conference tomorrow.โ
Mr Shah dismissed all other parties saying, โEarlier SP-BSP ruled here, when Behenjiโs (BSP Chief Mayawati) party used to come, she used to talk about one caste. When Congress party came they used to talk about family and when Akhilesh babu used to come, he used to talk about goondas, mafia and appeasement.โ
The Samajwadi Party and BJP leaders have been exchanging barbs. After Akhilesh Yadav yesterday claimed that his chopper was earlier halted in Delhi as part of BJPโs conspiracy to prevent him from flying to Muzaffarnagar, UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya tweeted, โSamajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadavโs plane failed, the campaign plan failed. The public punctured the cycle in 2014โ, a reference to SPโs election symbol.
The farmersโ movement has given a new chance at revival to the RLD in its political bastion of Western UP and its alliance with the Samajwadi Party is posing a big threat to the BJP which did extremely well in 2017 here. The BJP won 83 out of the 108 seats in Western UP, which means three out of every four seats โ a strike rate of 76 per cent.
The BJP is now trying to placate several sections including farmers and is leaving no stone unturned in its fight for Western UP seats. All of its top leaders have been on a campaign spree throughout the region, from carrying out door-to-door campaigns to holding meetings with local party workers.
The SP-RLD alliance is hoping that the Jat-Muslim combination will find consolidation on the ground in the backdrop of the farmersโ protests. The Jats and Muslims had parted ways after the 2013 communal riots that shook Muzaffarnagar. Those riots had not only bolstered the BJPโs impressive victory in the 2017 UP assembly elections, but also had resonance at the national level in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.