Lok Sabha Polls 2024 | Face-off: Sanjeev Balyan vs Harendra Malik

The two are contesting from Muzaffarnagar.

Fifty-two-year-old Balyan began his Parliamentary career in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls by winning the Muzaffarnagar seat by bagging more than six lakh votes. He has been representing the constituency since then. Balyan is a PhD in veterinary anatomy from the Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University.

A member of the Jat community, he is facing the anger of the sizable Thakur community in the constituency. The Thakurs are angry at the Jat dominance in the BJP in the region. In Sardhana, one of the Assembly segments of Muzaffarnagar, Balyan is facing internal rivalry from firebrand BJP leader and former MLA Sangeet Som.

Adding to his woes, a ‘mahapanchayat’ of the Rajputs has decided to boycott the BJP candidates in Muzaffarnagar, Kairana and Saharanpur Lok Sabha constituencies for allegedly neglecting the community while distributing party tickets.

Balyan has faced criminal charges in connection with a case of violating prohibitory orders and inciting communal tension during the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. Balyan is hopeful that the development works taken up in the constituency during his previous terms would ensure his victory.

Sixty-nine-year-old Malik is a farmer and businessman who took the political plunge. A BSc graduate from Meerut University, Malik belongs to the influential Jat community.

Malik began his political career in 1985 after winning the Assembly election on a Lok Dal ticket from Khatauli seat in Muzaffarnagar. In 1989 he joined the Janata Dal and won Assembly polls from Baghra. In the next seven years, he continued to be an MLA.

He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2002. Malik describes his opponent Balyan as an "accidental leader". Malik is pinning hopes on the anger of Rajputs and farmers against the BJP. While Balyan hopes that Jayant Singh's RLD aligning with the BJP will help him electorally,

Malik says it will not have any impact in the constituency. Malik cites "political FIRs", including one related to an attack on the convoy of Jayant's wife, that were lodged by Muzaffarnagar police during the 2019 elections. Malik also feels that farmers groups in the region will have an influence in the polls.

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