Union Minister Jayant Chaudhary
In the by-elections being held in 9 assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh, all eyes are on Western UP’s Meerapur seat. Union minister Jayant Chaudhary has conducted a political experiment like the Khatauli by-election in Meerapur seat, which fell to RLD’s account by sharing seats. Jayant has named Mithlesh Pal as candidate for the Meerapur seat, which is considered to be dominated by Jat-Gurjar Muslims. Similarly, in Khatauli, a Jat-Saini dominated seat, they wrested the seat from the BJP by fielding Madan Bhaiya, who hails from Gurjar community, and now, by making a bet on Pal community in Mirapur, Can they repeat the same results? ?
In 2022, RLD managed to win the Meerapur assembly seat with the support of SP. Chandan Chauhan, who hails from Gurjar community, was elected MLA from RLD, but this post fell vacant after he became Lok Sabha MP from Bijnor in 2014. RLD is now with BJP. Gurjar leaders like Chandan Chauhan and Maluk Nagar were seeking tickets for their families from the Meerapur assembly seat, but Jayant Chaudhary has conducted a new political experiment by giving tickets to Mithlesh Pal, who hails from the Pal (herdsman) community.
The Meerapur Equation and Jayant’s Wager
There are around 3.25 lakh voters in Meerapur assembly seat, of which around 1.25 lakh are Muslim voters. In terms of caste equation, after Muslims, there are around 57,000 Dalit voters in this seat. Apart from this, there are 28,000 Jat, 22,000 Gurjar, 18,000 Prajapati and 15,000 Pal voters. Apart from this, there are other OBC castes including Saini. If you look at it in percentage terms, the votes are 38 percent OBC, 37 percent Muslim, 20 percent Dalit and five percent upper caste.
RLD-Muslim-Jat-Gurjar Equation
The SP did not participate in the 2022 elections and left this seat to the RLD. RLD managed to register victory with the help of Muslim-Jat-Gurjar equation, but Jayant Chaudhary is now with BJP. In such a situation, it is difficult for them to get the votes of Muslims, so RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary has named Mithlesh Pal, who hails from the Pal community, as his candidate. In this way, Jayant’s strategy to win by uniting the majority with Jat-Pal and Gurjar is hidden.
Jayant’s experiment in Khatauli was a success
Jayant Chaudhary had conducted a new political experiment in the by-elections from the Khatauli seat. Jayant had defeated the BJP by fielding the Gurjar candidate in the Jat-Saini-Muslim dominated Khatauli assembly seat. Now the political board has been set in Meerapur on the same winning formula and a political gamble has been made by making the Pal community candidates for the Jat dominated seat. Jayant Chaudhary has deployed his entire team in the Meerapur seat. He himself has made a plan to visit Jat-dominated villages and has entrusted the responsibility of getting Gurjar votes to Chandan Chauhan.
The anger of the Jats should not be costly.
Resentment from the Jat community is increasing tension for RLD, which is making all-out efforts to win the Meerapur seat. People of the Jat community held a panchayat in Meerapur two days ago. Which was called by Sarvendra Rathi. In this meeting the issue of not fielding Jat candidates was raised. Sarvendra Rathi said that Chaudhary Charan Singh had created an equation between Jat, Ahir, Gurjar and Muslim society. The SP party does not want to lose Muslims under any circumstances, while Jayant does not shy away from sacrificing the Jat community. RLD only uses the Jat community. RLJD lost its rights by allying with BJP. Jat community politics is being put to an end, which will have to be taken into account in Meerpur.
Danger of fragmentation also in the Gurjar votes
On the other hand, there is resentment that RLD did not field candidates from the Jat community, while on the other hand, there is also a danger of fragmentation of Gurjar votes. Dalits and Muslims already stay away from them. From SP to BSP, Azad Samaj Party and AIMIM have fielded Muslim candidates. In such a situation, Jayant Choudhary’s experiment on fragmenting Muslim votes may succeed and if Muslims unite and join any party, then it will be difficult for the RLD to maintain its political dominance.
