Akhilesh fields non-Muslims from Muslim-dominated seats to prevent polarisation bid in west UP

The SP list caught many by surprise as the party chose to field non-Muslim nominees on seats like Charthawal, Meerapur, Agra South, among others

As the BJP attempts to rake up the alleged "exodus" of Hindu families from Kairana in Shamli district to 'polarise' the forthcoming assembly polls along religious lines and thwart the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance strategy to unite 'Jats' and Muslims in the western and central region, SP president Akhilesh Yadav has, in a strategic move, fielded non-Muslim candidates from several Muslim-dominated seats in the region.

The SP, which has so far declared 180 candidates for the forthcoming assembly polls, has fielded 36 Muslim candidates while the BSP, which has declared 104 candidates so far, has fielded 37 Muslims from the same region. In the previous 2017 assembly polls, as many as 50 Muslims figured in the SP list of 180 candidates from the same region.

The SP list caught many by surprise as the party chose to field non-Muslim nominees on seats like Charthawal, Meerapur, Agra South, Bulandshshar, Badhapur, Bijnore, Loni, Pilibhit and some others where Muslims formed the biggest electoral bloc.

While the SP termed it an ''electoral strategy'' aimed at preventing attempts to 'polarise' the polls by the BJP, the BSP called it ''soft Hindutva" and accused the SP of using the Muslims as a vote bank but not giving them the due representation.

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The move, however, triggered resentment within the SP and some prominent Muslim faces of the party, including its MLA from Kundarki seat Haji Rizvan resigned from the party after being denied renomination,and switched to the BSP.

Some other SP Muslim leaders, including Imran Masood, who had joined the party after resigning from the Congress recently, and Kadir Rana were also said to be sulking after being denied nominations but the SP managed to pacify them with the promise of "adjusting" them suitably once the party formed its government after the polls.

SP sources here said that the BSP, Congress and AIMIM had fielded a large number of Muslim candidates in the region in the hope of getting the support of the community. ''We have ensured that our candidates also get the support of other communities along with the Muslims,'' said a senior SP leader while speaking to DH here.

The SP leader appeared to be unperturbed over the presence of so many Muslim candidates in the electoral fray and said that the Muslims knew very well that only the SP was in a position to take on the BJP. ''They (Muslims) will not waste their votes on other parties,'' he said, citing the example of Bengal assembly elections.

BJP leaders have been raking up the issue of Kairana "exodus" to target the SP. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who conducted a door-to-door campaign in Kairana a few days ago, sought to remind the electorate about the alleged "exodus" and appealed to them to "unite" and support the saffron party.

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