UP’s Domariyaganj: Caste equations, Muslim vote key as BJP faces alliance challenge

“In that case why shouldn’t I vote for the candidate everyone will believe I actually voted for, instead of the candidate who I probably think is actually better. Even if I vote for the BJP or the Congress candidate and he wins, he would always think that I did not really vote for him,” says Vickey.

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Polling schedule, results date, constituency-wise election results, key candidates

He is not the only voter in Domariyaganj Lok Sabha seat who thinks on these lines, and like nearly every other election in the state, caste equations in Domariyaganj are expected to play a major role in the state.

In the Lok Sabha seat under Siddharthnagar district, incumbent BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, who is known as the “one-day wonder of Uttar Pradesh politics”, is pitted against alliance candidate Aftab Alam aka Guddu Bhaiya contesting on a BSP ticket and Congress candidate Dr Chandresh Upadhyaya.

The seat has 18.66 lakh voters and Muslim voters form nearly 28 per cent of the electorate. This is followed by Dalit voters, close to 17 per cent. Brahmins and Yadavs are around 9 per cent each in the segment. Other OBCs and General castes are around 22 and 13 per cent, respectively.

As Domariyaganj votes on May 12, the fight here seems to be largely between the Modi factor and the politics of the SP-BSP alliance. Locals appear confident that the Muslim-Dalit-Yadav voters will vote in favour of Aftab Alam.

“There is no reason that these three communities are not going to support Aftab Alam who is young, the SP-BSP alliance candidate, and a Muslim. As far as I know, most of the voters in these three communities are going to vote for Aftab,” claims Chaukheda village resident Shaukeer Ahmad Shah, 36. His mother Amina Khatoon (56) agrees. Shaukeer claims there are 200 voters in his joint family.

Even as Jagdambika Pal is seeking his third term, several BJP members who did not wish to be named claim that he was not the choice of a large chunk of BJP supporters and voters.

In 2014, when Jagdambika got a BJP ticket after winning the seat in 2009 on a Congress ticket, he faced major opposition from within the party. Many claim that Jagdambika may have won the seat in 2009 on his own, but in 2014 it was all because of the “Modi wave” and even in 2019, his only hope is the “Modi effect.”

“Jagdambika Pal is MP for the past 10 years but I have never seen him. I don’t see any development work here. No government scheme has reached us and only the non-deserving get benefits. I am a 73-year-old barber and I have 38 grandchildren. A few in my village got pucca houses under government scheme but I got nothing even after applying several times. Those who got government help already have pucca houses. My family of six sons, their wives and 38 grandchildren live under a single kuchha roof. They all talk about development. Where is mine?” says Bangawa Barai village resident Puddan.

Asked about Congress candidate and medical doctor Chandresh Upadhyay, Kanshiram Yadav, a villager, says that as the most educated among all the candidates, Upadhyay has a good image. Adding that a section of Brahmins may also support Chandresh, he says the Dalit, Yadav and Muslim votes are going to play the most important role here.

While Chandresh is contesting for the first time, Aftab contested Vidhan Sabha election in Pipraich seat of Gorakhpur in 2017 on a BSP ticket but lost.