There is no dearth of contentious and polarising issues in the crucial battlefield of western Uttar Pradesh, which has a sizable Muslim electorate, and the increasingly vehement nature of political discourse here seems to reflect the deep-rooted communal fault lines in the region. However, there is a marked shift on the ground - candidates cutting across party lines are reaching out to Hindu voters unlike ever before.
With eight constituencies in the region - Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina (SC), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit - going to polls in the first phase on April 19, parties have certainly upped the ante, but the divisive rhetoric, especially by the ruling party, has left much to be desired. Many of the seats have Muslim electorate even between 40% and 50% and have remained a rough electoral terrain for the saffron party in the past. The BJP emerged victorious on only three of these seats in 2019 (Muzaffarnagar, Pilibhit and Kairana), with the Samajwadi Party (SP) winning two (Moradabad and Rampur) and the Bahujan Samaj party (BSP) three (Saharanpur, Bijnor and Nagina). The SP and the BSP fought the 2019 election in an alliance. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the BJP won seven - Muzaffarnagar, Pilibhit, Kairana, Nagina, Moradabad, Saharanpur and Bijnor.
