In BJP ‘safe seat’, SP and BSP eye opening via Sikandrabad

Noida: Incumbent BJP MP Mahesh Sharma is facing a triangular contest in the Gautam Budh Nagar Lok Sabha constituency — BJP’s “safe seat” — for the April 26 polls with BSP trying to breach the rural belt by fielding a Rajput face Rajendra Solanki and the INDIA bloc putting forward a Gurjar candidate in SP’s Mahendra Nagar.BJP is confident of being a frontrunner in the urban assembly segments, including Noida and Greater Noida. The townships, which have emerged as hubs of industries and housing, are known to have voted for the BJP in past elections.However, a Rajput ‘discontent’ in the rural region — the Sikandrabad-Khurja-Dadri-Jewar quadrangle — may throw a challenge to Sharma. Centrally located and demographically diverse, the rural belt has seen hectic campaigns over the last few weeks by BSP chief Mayawati, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and UP CM Yogi Adityanath, while Union defence minister Rajnath Singh held a rally in Dadri’s Bisada village earlier this week. This is in sharp contrast to campaigning in the urban areas of the constiituency, which saw no heavyeights. Union home minister Amit Shah did have a rally scheduled in Noida but it was called off because of bad weather. According to poll analysts, political parties made a calculated move by focusing on rural constituencies. Sikandrabad’s political influence, they point out, owes to its strategic location near western UP districts. It has a substantial population of Yadavs (nearly 1 lakh), Muslims (75,000), Rajputs (75,000), SC/STs (75,000) and Gurjars (35,000), making it a prime location for community-based vote appeals. During their campaigns, both Solanki — who hails from Khurja and is a former Congress MLA from Sikandrabad — and Nagar, a resident of Dadri, called the region their “home turf” and tried to capitalise on their local connections.“My election campaign started from Dadri, where I visited several Satha Churasi villages (60 villages of Shishodias and 84 villages of Tomar Rajputs). In the last lap, I covered Sikandrabad, Khurja and Jewar. However, it is not that I neglected Noida as my supporters were campaigning in the urban pockets. I also held a roadshow in Noida on the last day of campaigning,” Solanki told TOI.Addressing a rally in Sikandrabad on April 22, Mayawati emphasised that Solanki was the only Rajput candidate in the fray in the constituency and urged the community to vote for him unitedly. Rajput organisations also organised a mahapanchayat in Sikandrabad to protest BJP's perceived neglect in ticket distribution.Asked why the SP chief held a rally in Sikandrabad, Nagar highlighted the constituency's strategic location, addressing several LS constituencies of western UP, including Bulandshahr and GB Nagar.A close aide of the sitting MP and BJP candidate, meanwhile, told TOI Sharma’s campaign was not concentrated on any constituency, and one rally by a prominent party face was held in each of the five assembly segments. “Opposition was more focused in one or two constituencies as no one knows them outside the area. Mahesh Sharma ji held roadshows and public meetings in every constituency,” he added.