In Agra reserved seat, a desire for BSP as BJP hopes to win seat fourth time

Senior BJP leader Om Prakash points out that the support of Vaishyas, Brahmins, Punjabis, non-Yadav OBCs and a section of the Dalits has been helping the BJP win in Agra. “We have been winning mayoral polls since 1989, and won all the five Assembly segments under the Lok Sabha seat in 2022. Agra is our bastion,” he says.

Agra election results 2014 vs 2019

In Basai Khurd, which falls under the Agra Cantonment Assembly segments, Akash Kumar, a Jatav, holds on to hope that BSP chief Mayawati will pull a trick and lead the party to victory in Agra. Akash, who talks of celebrating the recent Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti by cutting a cake and distributing it among children, says Mayawati can be CM again one day if upper castes and Muslims back her – as they did in 2007 when the BSP swept to power in Uttar Pradesh. “Only Mayawati raises our concerns while the BJP, Congress and SP are restricted to social media,” he says.

Like many others here, Akash regrets that Mayawati did not tie up with Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad, who also has a following among the Dalits in these parts. “Maybe she fears she will lose her control over the party,” he quips.

Shripad, who works as a carpenter and is also a BSP voter, also looks forward to the party winning, but first remaining “relevant”. “Mayawati’s tenure as CM was very good. The BJP may have improved the law and order situation, but as a Dalit, I felt the safest in Behenji’s rule,” he says.

Lalit Valmiki, 35, whose Dalit group generally votes for the BJP, talks about how he got a job during Mayawati’s tenure and believes only her government ensured reservation proper reservation. So, unlike the rest of his community, he says, he too backs the BSP.

Talking about “the BJP’s politics”, he says: “The BSP was the biggest loser when the BJP made elections Hindu versus Muslims. The minority communities now back the BSP only when they feel it has a strong chance to beat the BJP.

Jatav Dalit Ramesh Chand in Etmadpur area of Agra. (Express Photo by Lalmani Verma)

Work stopped for over three years at Mughal Museum renamed by Yogi government as Chatrapati Shivaji in Agra. (Express Photo by Lalmani Verma)In Etmadpur Assembly segment – one of the five falling under the Agra Lok Sabha constituency – Ramesh Chand, also a Jatav, terms the BJP government a “super sarkar”. While he admits availing the benefits of many Central schemes, Chand backs the BSP, and wonders about why the party keeps losing despite their support. “We all vote for the BSP but the BJP wins. There is something wrong with the EVMs. Thappa walla (ballot paper) election must be held to ensure fairness,” he says.

Mayawati too has been calling for a return to the ballot paper to ensure “fair” elections, though the recent Supreme Court order seems to have settled that debate.

With both the SP-Congress and BSP fielding Jatavs, the Muslim vote at around 2 lakh might prove crucial. The Muslims are seen to largely be with the SP-Congress combine, but the BSP is trying to woo them.

“In 2022, Yogi Aityanath changed the name of the Mughal museum to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum. That hurt our sentiments. Why can no new structure with a Muslim name come up?” Mohd Saleem questions. The Rs 142-crore project, which was started in 2016 by the SP government, was halted during the Covid-19 pandemic and has been stalled since.

“Around Rs 90 crore has been spent on the project. Technically, the current government only changed the name of the project” says an official of UP Rajkiya Nirman Nigam, the construction agency for the project, when asked about the day. The official added that there were some technical issues in the structure and a study by IIT-Roorkee was being done.

However, within the Muslim community too, there is some appreciation for the measures of the Modi government such as banning instant triple talaq. While Nadira, a resident of Agra Cantonment, says the BJP has divided people on communal lines, her daughter-in-law, who did not wish to be named, hails the Centre for this. But even the latter blames the BJP for the rising “hatred” towards the Muslim community.

People in Basai Khurd locality celebrated Ambedkar birth anniversary this year. (Express Photo by Lalmani Verma)

BSP candidate Amrohi, 51, the daughter incidentally of former Congress Rajya Sabha MP Satya Behan, has been involved in social activities so far. The Dalit yearning for the BSP notwithstanding, Amrohi says the real issues for her are unemployment, education, “safety” and “clean drinking water”. “I am also advocating the setting up of a Bench of the Allahabad High Court in Agra.”

The SP is banking on the influence of Kardam, a shoe businessman, among the shoe trading community, one of the most significant chunks of the constituency’s electorate. “The people are disappointed with the BJP government as it did not fulfill the promises it made to the common man and are firmly behind the SP-Congress combine. Though Jatavs publicly say they will back the BSP, they will vote for us,” says Kardam.

The 63-year-old is not new to politics and contested the Agra mayoral polls as a BSP nominee in 2000 and emerged as the runner-up. The SP’s focus on Agra was evident when its chief Akhilesh Yadav joined Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in the city in February.

Baghel, on the other hand, exudes confidence about winning the seat again on the basis of “the work he has done in Agra over the past few years” and the welfare schemes of the state and Central governments. “People in Agra personally know me but are unaware of the SP and BSP candidates… This election is easier than the 2019 poll,” he claims.

On April 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Agra for the BJP candidates of Agra and adjoining Fatehpur Sikri seat.

The SP’s Raj Babbar won the Agra seat in 1999 and 2004 when it was unreserved. Since then, the BJP has won it thrice (2009, 2014 and 2019), with the BSP runner-up and the SP third.

The BJP has also progressively increased its vote share in the seat, getting 31.48%, 54.5% and 56.4% of the votes in 2009, 2014 and 2019 respectively.