NEW DELHI: Located in the Agra district, Fatehpur Sikri, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its architecture, including the iconic Buland Darwaja and it served as the capital of the erstwhile Mughal Empire from 1571 to 1585 is heading for a quadrangular contest with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and independent candidate Rameshwar Choudhary. Carved out of the Agra parliamentary constituency after the 2008 delimitation, BSP’s Seema Upadhyaya registered victory in its debut election of 2009. After that, in 2014 and 2019, the BJP’s Choudhary Babulal and Rajkumar Chahar won the general polls, while Congress celebrity leader Raj Babbar faced defeat twice in the 2009 and 2019 elections from here.
BJP has repeated its incumbent MP Rajkumar Chahar, who is also chairman of BJP Kisan Morcha. Congress, on the other hand, has fielded Ramnath Sikarwar, popularly known as ‘Fauji Baba’. Sikarwar is a veteran soldier who resides in a village temple, and is popular in the area for his social work. He contested his first election in the 2022 assembly elections from Agra’s Kheragarh seat and gave a tough fight to BJP candidate Bhagwan Singh. The BSP has fielded Ram Niwas Sharma, a Brahmin candidate.
In the political arena of Fatehpur Sikri, Chahar is not only facing the rival party’s candidate but also a significant threat from Rameshwar Chaudhury, the son of the current BJP MLA from Fatehpur Sikri, Babulal Chaudhury. As an independent, Rameshwar is believed to have a strong hold over the Jat electorate. Also, the Brahmin faces from BSP have further created a division of votes within the Brahmin community, which has relied on the BJP for a long time
According to popular opinion, BJP’s Chahar is facing resistance from the unhappy Kshatriya community, which is rallying behind the Congress nominee, Ramnath Sikarwar, who is also a Kshatriya. Additionally, the sentiment of anti-incumbency presents a formidable challenge to Chahar’s efforts to repeat his previous electoral triumphs.
In response to these hurdles, veteran BJP leaders, including the notable Thakur personalities Rajnath Singh and Yogi Adityanath, are actively campaigning in Sikri and Agra. Their goal is to address and mitigate the disaffection within the Kshatriya community. Prime minister Narendra Modi also held a rally in favour of Chahar, which makes him completely reliant on Modi-Yogi partnership politics.
Congress, on the other hand, is seriously campaigning in the constituency with its star campaigner, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Fathepur Sikri. Sikarwar also enjoys support from Priyanka Gandhi as he is believed to be close to her.
In the caste demography of Sikri, the Thakurs are the leading caste group, with a population of 3.5 lakh, while they are succeeded by the Brahmins, who number 3 lakh. The Jat community has a presence of 1.75 lakh, and both the Muslim and Vaishya communities have 1 lakh members each. Among the backward classes, the Kushwahas makeup 1.4 lakh, while the Nishads are 1.2 lakh. The caste demographics seem to favour he BJP, but the opposition candidate from the other two dominant castes, Kshatriya and Brahmins, fears a split of votes. However, the BJP is trying tooth and nail to get support from the Kshatriya community with the inclusion of former Air Chief RKS Bhadoria, a Thakur face from the Bah assembly, and he is actively campaigning in the area for Chahar. Also, Chahar has support from Rani Pakshalika Singh, a BJP MLA, and belongs to the erstwhile royal family of Bhadawar. Through this, the BJP seems to have cemented its support from the Thakur community.