Nuclear power matters in rural seat of turncoats

Nationalist Congress Party nominee Kartar Singh Bhadana counters,“The nuclear deal is not an issue here. We need power. The source doesn’t matter.”

Besides Siddiqui,there are other candidates in Bijnor who have changed their political gear with ease. The SP had earlier fielded Bhadana,but replaced him at the last minute with Dr Yashveer Singh,till then a candidate from neighbouring Kairana. Bhadana promptly shifted to the NCP. Sanjay Singh Chauhan of the RLD-BJP combine till a few months ago was with the SP.

With over 3.5 lakh minority and 2.5 lakh Gurjjar votes,the delimitation has made the constituency a lab for Muslim-Gurjjar tussle,and parties are trying to conjure up the best combination.

With three Gurjjar candidates around — Chauhan,Singh and Bhadana — the likely vote split may help the BSP,but Bhadana,stationed in Bijnor for the last nine months,rules it out. “Kheti main kar raha hun,koi doosra fasal kaat kar kaise le jayega (I sowed the seeds,how can anyone else harvest it)?” he asks.

A minister in the Congress government of Chautala in Haryana,Bhadana joined the Indian National Lok Dal in 2004,before losing the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from Dausa in Rajasthan.

Claiming that other Gurjjar candidates are alienated here,local leader Chauhan says,“Backed by a non-existent NCP,Bhadana is almost like an Independent candidate. Singh,too,was brought in at the last minute.”

The seat may also witness religious polarisation of votes,much to the disadvantage of Siddiqui and Congress candidate Saiduzzaman. RLD leaders claim that in places where a strong Muslim candidate faces a Hindu one,the religious communities may vote for the nominees of their own religion. Chauhan is confident of the Muslim votes considering his 13-year association with the SP.

Siddiqui promises to set up a Rs 180-crore Dr Ambedkar Institute of Information Technology in the area,and Rs 10 crore has already been approved by the state Government for the project. Regarding his agenda of bringing Bijnor on the country’s IT map,Bhadana says,“The BSP shows only false dreams to Dalits.”

The delimitation has changed the poll matrix of Bijnor,possibly the only constituency in India spread across three commissionaires — Moradabad,Saharanpur,Meerut. Earlier,the seat comprised five Assembly seats of Bijnor. Now the constituency has two Assembly seats from Bijnor,two from Saharanpur,and one from Meerut.

Results notwithstanding,local Muslims are glad to have their first-ever representatives — Siddiqui and Saiduzzaman — from the minority-dominated constituency lying on either side of the Ganga. Won by RLD candidate Munshiram in 2004,post-delimitation Bijnor is a clean slate awaiting a new script on May 13.