Had it not been for the Samajwadi Party’s (SP’s) Muslim face Azam Khan, the ongoing civic elections in the state would have completely overshadowed the May 10 assembly by-polls in Rampur district’s Suar.
The assembly by-polls would also be held the same day in Chhanbey in Mirzapur where ‘a bahu vs beti’ narrative has taken shape.
A video of Azam’s ‘namak haraam (ungrateful)’ jibe directed at National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Shafiq Ansari, a pasmanda (backward) Muslim, has put the focus on the Suar contest. Ansari, Azam’s ex-confidant, is contesting against the SP’s Anuradha Chauhan, said to be Azam’s pick.
The BJP is not in the fray but its state leaders, including state unit chief Bhupendra Chaudhary and ministers like JPS Rathore, have campaigned in the area along with Apna Dal (S) leaders. The SP campaign in Suar is mostly limited to Azam.
“Ye Suar ki galiyan, iski sadkein aur iska vikas aur batney wala paisa .. ye kiska hain? Arrey, yeh mere hi kalam ka diya hua hai. Waah re namak haraam, arrey biradari ki naak katwa di … aur ab mujhpe hi gurra rahe ho (these roads, lanes of Suar and the money, whose is it? I sanctioned this development with my pen. Oh, you ungrateful soul … you have lost your reputation .. and now you are shouting at me!),” Azam said at a public meeting, in which he also taunted Ansari, a candidate of Apna Dal (Sonelal), a BJP ally.
“Azam Khan is a criminal, he has lost his mind and he should be behind bars,” Ansari said in response.
The Congress and the BSP have not fielded candidates in Suar.
“Rampur is a Muslim majority constituency where the BJP has been steadily increasing its penetration since June 2022 when it won the Rampur Lok Sabha. It later won Azam Khan’s bastion of Rampur (Sadar) assembly seat for the first time. That’s why the outcome in this Muslim majority belt would shape the 2024 narrative as BJP steps up its outreach among backward ‘pasmanda’ Muslims through government schemes,” said Irshad Ilmi, a political observer.
Little wonder then, Azam Khan, battling a bevy of cases since 2017, has been actively campaigning for Chauhan.
Azam lost his assembly membership from his stronghold Rampur (Sadar) seat, after being convicted in a hate speech case. His son Abdullah Azam’s disqualification in a 15-year-old case for blocking traffic necessitated the by-poll for the Suar seat.
In 2022, Abdullah had recontested Suar, after being first disqualified following his political debut five years before. He won convincingly, outlining Azam Khan’s hold on this Muslim majority seat, defeating the then NDA candidate Haider Ali Khan by 60,000 votes.
In the Rampur Lok Sabha by-polls, the BJP’s Ghanshyam Lodhi, another ex-Azam confidant, won. The party is testing the template again.
The Rampur Lok Sabha by-polls were caused after Azam quit the Lok Sabha on his record 10th win from the Rampur (Sadar) assembly seat in March 2022.
The contest for the reserved Chhanbey seat in Mirzapur is also interesting. The by-poll was caused due to death of sitting Apna Dal (S) lawmaker Rahul Kol.
Now, the BJP has fielded his wife Rinki Kol against SP candidate Kirti Kol, daughter of former lawmaker Bhai Lal Kol. The SP had narrowly lost Chhanbey in the 2022 polls.
“It’s bahu vs beti contest here as Rinki is the daughter-in-law of MP Pakodi Lal Kol while Kirti’s father has been a former lawmaker from Chhanbey,” said AP Tiwari, a political analyst. Since Rahul Kol was popular, his wife is also banking on the sympathy factor, Tiwari added.
