BJP campaign in Muzaffarnagar: Balyan invokes riots, ‘rapes’

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He said: “Aaj se dhai saal pehle poori jo samasya is janpad mein shuru hui, jo danga hua…jo bhi yahan maujood hai aisa koi vyakti yahan nahi jiska apna koi jail nahi gaya aur bhagwan ke paas na gaya ho. Ek gussa thha… uss gusse ki wajah se ek sadharan parivar ka ek chhota bhai ya beta (ko) aapne sansad mein bheja (The whole issue — of riots — began in this area some two-and-a-half years ago…There isn’t anyone here who did not end up with a family member either dead or in jail. There was anger among the people, and that anger sent me to Parliament.”

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The locality is one of the oldest colonies of Muzaffarnagar, home to at least 2,000 families belonging to the Jat community.

Just hours before Balyan, BJP candidate Kapil Dev Aggarwal and others addressed the rally, the police had stopped a march by BJP workers in the area, apparently since the organisers did not have written permission. But more than mere technicalities, the administration is wary of tension being sparked in the communally sensitive town, and the district at large. Forty-eight hours before polling begins, a security blanket was thrown over the city on Thursday, with heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces. Senior officers, including the City Magistrate, Superintendent of Police (city) and the Additional District Magistrate, began inspection rounds from the afternoon.

Making the bypoll an issue of his pride and prestige, Balyan, with Aggarwal by his side, said, “Ab tak yeh Kapil Dev Aggarwal ka chunaav thaa. Aaj apke saamne keh raha hun, yeh jeet bhi Sanjeev Balyan ki, aur haar bhi Sanjeev Balyan ki (This was Aggarwal’s election until today. But whatever be the result — victory or defeat — it will be mine).”