As the Bharatiya Janata Party candidates in West U.P. have begun reaching out to the electorate, they are feeling the impact of farmers’ agitation on the election. Over a dozen incidents of contestants being shown black flags or not being allowed to enter a village have been reported in the region.
While the BJP supporters described them as sponsored protests organised by the rivals and disgruntled ticket seekers, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) said it was a natural expression of anger against the ruling dispensation.
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The convoy of Maninder Pal Singh, the BJP candidate from Siwalkhas, came under attack at Chur village on January 24. A First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged against 85 people out of which 20 have been named. Mr. Singh clarified that he didn’t lodge the complaint, it is the police who had taken note of the incident in which seven cars of this convoy were damaged because of stone-pelting.
His aide Gaurav Singh said such minor protests were organised by rival candidates by paying local youth money to buy some country liquor. He reminded that the FIR said the youth were carrying flags of RLD. “We didn’t lodge a complaint because we didn’t want to spoil their careers. We will bring them to our side,” he said.
The RLD sources said it helped the party because Chur was a Jat-dominated village. “It sent a message among Muslims that Jats would vote in favour of Ghulam Mohammad, the Samajwadi Party candidate fighting on the RLD symbol.”
In Aligarh, BJP’s candidate from Barauli seat Jaiveer Singh had to retreat when people raised slogan against him. Local BJP spokesperson Nishit Sharma described it as a protest by those who had been denied the party ticket. “They held Mr. Singh responsible for it. They are being pacified,” he said.
The BJP candidate from Chhaprauli in Baghpat, Sahendra Ramala, was shown black flags on Friday and was not allowed to enter Nirupada village.
While Mr. Ramala described the protest as sponsored by the RLD candidate, local sources said villagers were angry with Mr. Ramala for switching to BJP after winning the Chhaprauli seat on an RLD ticket in 2017.
Vikram Saini, the BJP candidate from Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar has been facing protests since he has hit the ground. Mr. Saini had criticised farmers protesting at the Delhi border during the agitation against the farm laws. The sitting MLA told reporters that such protests were normal during the campaign.
In Bulandshahar, the Election Commission has sought an explanation from BJP’s Shikarpur candidate Anil Sharma after a video went viral where Mr. Sharma’ s son Kush Sharma could be seen distributing 100 rupee currency notes among people. Mr. Kush said he distributed the notes among a few drummers of a band as a mark of gratitude.
In Meerut, farmer Omveer Singh said, “You could mislead the Jats but you could not make them understand[Aap Jaat ko behka sakte ho, samjhaa nahin sakte]”. The BJP has committed the mistake of explaining to us the black laws.”
BKU spokesperson Dharmendra Malik said the anger against the BJP was real but the Opposition had not been able to channelise it fully. “Flags are being shown but not all candidates of the ruling are being stopped from entering the villages. Only those who had been vocal against farmers’ agitation or were facing local issues are being targeted. Had the BKU not been apolitical, it would have been more widespread.” He said the BJP was trying hard to make farmers “forget the recent past by scratching wounds that have almost healed.”
