The success of Muslim candidates who recently emerged victorious in six out of the 10 seats for chairpersons of urban local bodies in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh hints at a social reconciliation in the district that witnessed large-scale Hindu-Muslim riots in 2013. In the previous local body polls held in 2017, Muslim candidates got only two chairperson seats.
Muzaffarnagar district has two Nagar Palika Parishads — Khatauli and Muzaffarnagar — and eight Nagar Panchayats — Meerapur, Purkazi, Sisauli, Bhokerhedi, Charthawal, Budhana, Shahpur and Jansath. Muslim candidates won in Khatauli Nagar Palika Parishad and in Charthawal, Purkazi, Meerapur, Jansath and Shahpur Nagar Panchayats.
In Khatauli Nagar Palika Parishad, the SP-RLD alliance nominee, Hazi Shahnawaz won the seat of the Chair, while in Jansath Nagar Panchayat, Aabid won. In the Charthawal, Purkazi and Meerapur Nagar Panchayats, Independent Muslim candidates won.
Leaders of the SP-RLD (Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal) and the winning candidates said the results indicate that the communal divide created by the 2013 riots have ended and harmony between the two communities have strengthened in the district.
“The results delivered by Muzaffarnagar is against the divisive and communal politics of hate. Both Hindus and Muslims stood against communal forces. It’s not only Muslim candidates winning six out of 10 chairmen seats, it’s also that in Budhana Nagar Panchayat, the SP-RLD candidate Uma Tyagi got huge support from Muslim voters and won, signifying the revival of Hindu-Muslim unity,” said RLD national general secretary Trilok Tyagi, who campaigned extensively in Muzaffarnagar.
In the previous local body polls, Muslim candidates won the posts of chair in Meerapur and Purkazi.
Zaheer Farooqi, the winner from the Purkazi Nagar Panchayat, said both communities have historically lived side by side. “It was a verdict for unity and I got support from both Hindus and Muslims; nobody wanted to remember those bad days,” he said.
RLD leaders say the results show the continuation of the peace-building process. “In the 2022 Vidhan Sabha polls, both communities rejected the BJP, out of five Assembly seats under the Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha constituency, the SP-RLD has now four seats,” said Mr. Tyagi. He said the BJP victory in the Muzaffarnagar Nagar Palika Parishad, an urban seat, was by much fewer votes in comparison to the 2017 polls.
The results may also indicate that the BJP is losing ground in Muzaffarnagar-Shamli belt as it holds only three out of 10 Assembly seats in the region and failed to retain the Khatauli Assembly constituency in the December 2022 bypoll.
