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.
