Driving into Azamgarh on the night it had been celebrating Shivaratri from dawn, the Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav’s constituency appeared to be a far cry from the “terror factory” tag it acquired during the Assembly poll campaign. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has consistently tried to associate Azamgarh with terror activities and accused Mr. Yadav of remaining silent over it. The SP won five seats from the district in 2017, when the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) bagged four while the BJP finished with one.
Lucky Chaturvedi, who was enjoying the festive mood with his Muslim friends, said there was no communal feeling in the city. “If there is any label, it will affect all of us when we go out to seek jobs, which are hard to find under the present dispensation,” said the science graduate.
Hifzurehman, an engineering student at Aligarh Muslim University, who had come home to cast his vote, commented that as Shivratri was taking place during the election season, all parties had splurged “more than usual”. “Hence we are having some fun but this will also mean traffic jams in the city,” he said.
In Sanjarpur village, often labelled as the “village of terrorists” involved in the Batla House case of 2008, pradhan Mohd Imdadullah said the village was completely peaceful but was still forced to live with the “ ati-sanvedanshil “ (very sensitive) tag after a long time. “On the election day, the main focus of the administration would be on us. It is unnecessary. Those who allegedly perpetrated the crime are in jail and, as far as I know, they had no record in the local police station when they left the village,” Mr. Imdadullah said.
At the house of Mohd Saif, one of the convicts, family members have come to terms with the long battle. “We are sure a higher court will listen to our plea. There have been many cases when the lower court’s order has been changed by the higher judiciary,” a relative of Saif said.
He praised the BJP government for its welfare schemes but said the number of ration cards in the village was considerably lower than it should be. “I am not alleging discrimination on religious grounds as many non-Muslim families are also struggling to get the document made,” he clarified. Mr. Imdadullah dismissed the ongoing hijab row, and Azamgarh’s terror tag. “All this will vanish after March 10. We will be left with costlier petrol and diesel,” he remarked. However, Abu Saad, who had come down from Saudi Arabia to vote, was concerned about the missing names on the voter list.
In Sarai Mir, known as gangster Abu Salem’s town, Anurag Chaurasiya, who works at a restaurant, said he might vote for the BJP but the terror tag irks everybody. “Sarai Mir should be known for Frank Islam, who is often seen with Prime Minister Modi, and Azamgarh should be remembered for Rahul Sankrityayan and Kaifi Azmi,” Mr. Chaurasiya, a first-time voter whose father works as a security guard in Mumbai, said. “We want change because the sitting SP MLA [Alambadi] is well-meaning but has become outdated at [the age of] 86.”
Notably, in Azamgarh, it is the SP and the BSP that have to cope with anti-incumbency. For instance, in Didarganj, it is Huzaifa Amir, son of Rashtriya Ulema Council chief Mohd Amir Rashadi, who is making the contest difficult for both the SP and the BSP.
In Bilhariyaganj town of Gopalpur constituency, law graduate Sanjay Singh, who voted for Nafees Ahmed of the SP last time, said the religion of the candidate did not matter if his work appealed. He was surprised by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath displaying bulldozers in his rallies in the region. “Why is he inflicting the fear of brute power when he has a robust judiciary in place, or has the BJP changed its election symbol?” he asked.
A young face of the SP, and a leader who moves in the party president’s inner circle, Mr. Ahmed has studied at Aligarh Muslim University but there is no inflection of Urdu in his speeches, only chaste Bhojpuri.
At one point, Gopalpur was considered a safe option for Mr. Yadav, before he decided to contest from Karhal in Mainpuri. Some Muslims saw this as yet another decision of Mr. Yadav’s in these polls that reflected a deliberate distancing from Muslims. “He didn’t want to be seen winning from a ‘Muslim’ seat,” said a veteran party worker. However, Mr. Ahmed saw it as a strategic move. “Why should we play on the BJP’s pitch? We are creating our own narrative.” And what is that? “ Jeeyo aur jeene do (live and let live),” he said.
At the BSP’s head office, the mood is sombre. Lalji Ram, who described himself as a “missionary” working for the party since 1987, said, “ Behenji isn’t fighting this election with full might. Our core vote is not going anywhere but the floating vote is not with us this time. It will be divided between the BJP and the SP, depending on the situation,” he said.
On the main road connecting Sarai Mir and Sanjarpur, there’s hardly any eatery that offers only vegetarian food. Fakre Alam, owner of a restaurant, agreed. “Sometimes, we don’t notice things unless they are pointed out. But it should not be used to make an opinion about us,” he said.
Interestingly, stray cattle did not appear to be an issue in the area, as they are elsewhere in U.P.
