HARIDWAR: In all the 11 assembly constituencies in Haridwar district, Dalits and
Muslims
are in a position to decide the winner, and candidates of various parties are leaving no stone unturned to woo these sections of voters. According to 2011 Census, of the total population of 18,90,422 in Haridwar district, there are 6,48,119 Muslims (34.28%). There are 13,05,266 voters in these 11 constituencies, and Muslims, on an average constitute 20% of the voters in each assembly seat of the district. There are more than six constituencies such as Roorkee, Piran Kaliyar, Bhagwanpur, Manglaur, Khanpur, Jwalapur, etc where the percentage of Muslim voters can be as high as 25%.
“In any of these 11 seats, the first choice of Muslim voters is a candidate of Congress. And if a candidate of BSP emerges as a strong contender owing to the strength of Dalit voters on any seat, Muslims have a tendency to deviate from
Congress and support BSP, only to defeat
BJP. This because they are of the opinion that Congress, after the polls, might join hands with BSP to form the government,” said Rao Munfet Ali, a local advocate.
While Muslim votes have a tendency to veer towards either Congress or BSP, Dalits, who support BSP here, may turn towards BJP this time, primarily due to the Modi factor, say political analysts. "We believe that PM's party might actually bring something good to our community," said Rama Kumar, a Dalit from Laksar. Jwalapur and Laksar are believed to be strongholds of BSP due to the large number of Dalit voters.
While BJP hopes to win Haridwar city and Bhagwanpur because of the strong presence of Hindu voters, Congress hopes to bag the BHEL Ranipur seat, which has 1.45 lakh voters. Congress also hopes to win Jhabreda, which has the smallest number of voters (97,000) among these 11 seats, because 75% of the electorates here are Muslims, who are traditionally Congress supporters.
Congress is also eyeing Manglaur seat, which has 1.20 lakh voters, of whom 70% are Muslims. In the previous elections, there were only two constituencies, Manglaur and Piran Kaliyar, from where Muslim candidates won. This time, however, the scenario is different. “It is only from Manglaur that a Muslim might win. Here, both Congress and BSP have fielded Muslim candidates. However, Dalit voters may decide the winner here,” said Desh Raj, a resident of Manglaur.
Congress is also working hard in Khanpur, Roorkee, Kaliyar and Haridwar Grameen seats. This time, a peculiar situation has emerged in Roorkee and Khanpur constituencies, from where previous Congress candidates, Pradeep Batra and Kunwar Pranav Champion, have now shifted to BJP respectively. Batra is now facing a tough battle against Congress's Suresh Jain. In the 2012 elections, Jain, who had lost to Batra, was the BJP candidate in Roorkee. “When he was in the Congress, Batra carried out developmental work in the town seriously and also looked after the welfare of the Muslims. But since he in BJP now, we have no other choice but to vote for Congress,” said Shahid Siddiqui, a resident of Sot locality.
In Khanpur seat, BSP candidate Mufti Riyasat is giving a tough fight to Champion, who has been an MLA from this seat in a row after
Uttarakhand
was formed. Riyasat is the lone Muslim candidate in this constituency and he also has the support of the Dalits.
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