Ahead of the bypolls for the Kairana Lok Sabha constituency and Noorpur Assembly seat on 28 May, in which the grand alliance against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faces its first test, campaign activities of Congress workers seem lacking as the party has not fielded candidates for the bypolls.
The coalition of Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) is being supported by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress, while Nishad Party and the All India New Congress Party (AINCP), too, have extended their support to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav. The whole brigade is set up against BJP, with Congress being the largest national party, and yet the Congress has not deployed its workers on the ground.
A look at the activities of various coalition members makes Congress look comparatively uninvolved. The SP and RLD workers have been campaigning in full swing; the BSP workers much like their voters are silent supporters. Nishad Party chief Dr Sanjay Nishad held a press conference earlier this week to extend his support not just for the bypolls, but for 2019 and 2024 as well to Akhilesh Yadav. AINCP president Ayub Khan has been announced as the star campaigner by Akhilesh Yadav for the bypolls. The Akhil Bhartiya Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti (ABJASS), mobilising Jats at a public gathering, extended support to the coalition. Congress, one of the largest parties in this mix, has been missing from the crucial campaign narrative.
Dismissing speculations on the Congress’ role in the grand coalition, Pankaj Kumar Malik, former MLA from Shamli, who has been involved in campaigning in Kairana, said, “Here, there are two groups of people, one that supports the BJP and the other which does not. The ones who don’t are a united front among which the most dissatisfied are the Dalits and farmers. Among farmers, there are Jats and Muslims alike and neither of them are going to vote for BJP. Congress workers on the ground are majorly involved in ensuring that there is no violent outbreak at all. The communal polarisation of the communities here now requires sensitive campaigning and that is where the Congress worker is deployed.”
Requesting anonymity, a Congress worker said, “We have not come across any specific instructions from a senior state leader. Pankaj Malik is probably the only known face representing the Congress in campaigns here. The workers who understand that defeating BJP is a priority are working with him on their own accord. Other than that, the Congress has not deployed much of its local human resource. The workers are without a doubt demotivated. If Congress had fielded one of its own candidates, then it would have given us a chance to gain some ground back.” Dunger Singh, city Congress Committee head, Noorpur, said, “Our leaders have been pre-occupied with elections in Karnataka. But local leaders, who are working for the bypolls, are doing it because the state leaders directed them to.” Congress sources said a meeting with vice president of RLD, Jayant Chowdhary, had taken place earlier this week to set the agenda for campaign activities. With Kairana and Noorpur bypolls a week away, SP and RLD will be supporting each other’s candidates.
Samajwadi Party candidate Tabassum Hasan will contest the Kairana Lok Sabha seat on the RLD symbol. The SP has decided to field Naim-ul-Hasan as its candidate from the Noorpur Assembly seat in Bijnor district. The two candidates of the joint coalition will be up against BJP’s Mriganka Singh in Kairana and Avni Singh in Noorpur. The Kairana bypoll was necessitated following the death in February of its sitting BJP MP, Hukum Singh, whose daughter Mriganka is now a candidate. Similarly, the Noorpur Assembly seat fell vacant after the death of sitting BJP MLA Lokendra Singh Chauhan in a road accident the same month.
The Kairana Lok Sabha constituency has 16 lakh voters, of which Muslims constitute about 5 lakh voters. Dalits and Jats are both 2 lakh each. Another major chunk is of Gurjars accounting for 1 lakh voters. On the other hand, in Noorpur, there are close to 25,000 Muslim voters, 40,000 Dalit voters and an equal number of Thakurs, 25,000 Yadavs and an equal number of Tyagis. While the coalition is banking on Muslims, Dalits, Yadavs and Jat votes, the BJP will be fighting on its traditional vote bank.
With Yogi Adityanath announcing a public gathering on 22 May in Shamli and in Saharanpur on 24 May, campaigning is set to gain momentum.