The BSP-SP-RLD 'mahagathbandhan' may give the BJP a tough fight in Bijnor with many voters indicating that infighting within the party and anger among Jat farmers might cost the ruling party its seat.
It is a three-way contest in this western Uttar Pradesh constituency, which goes to the polls on April 11. Incumbent Bhartendra Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party is pitted against 'mahagathbandan' candidate Malook Nagar of the Bahujan Samaj Party and Naseemuddin Siddiqui of the Congress.
In 2014, Singh won the seat by beating Samajwadi Party's Shahnawaz Rana by two lakh votes.
But now BSP, SP and RLD (Rashtriya Lok Dal) have joined hands, which added up to over five lakh votes (in 2014). This could pose a tough challenge for the BJP, said Palash, a resident of Sadar Bazar.
In 2014, Singh got 4,86,913 votes, Rana 2,81,139 votes, RLD candidate Jaya Prada 24,348 and Nagar 2,30,124.
Rakesh Sharma, a shopkeeper in nearby Najibabad, added that reports of infighting in the BJP over Singh's selection will be another challenge for the party.
The buzz, he said, is that Singh is being opposed by his fellow party member and MLA Suchi Mausam Choudhary who does not get along well with him and was against his candidature.
This has led to the formation of two groups inside the party, one for and another against Singh. Secondly, Jat farmers are also angry with Singh over non-payment of sugarcane dues from sugar mills. This again might work against him, Sharma said.
Sugarcane farmers have been demanding payment of their dues from sugar mills for months now. According to reports, the dues add up to Rs 10,000 crore in the state and has snowballed into a major poll issue.
Tabassum, a primary teacher at a government school here, however, is of the view that Singh has a strong Jat vote bank and will also benefit from the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
People vote for the prime minister in Lok Sabha elections. They don't care who is representing the party in the constituency, she said.
Farhan, a shop keeper at Bijnor railway station, said the main fight would be between BJP and mahagathbandan and their main struggle would be tapping SC/ST voters.
Mahagathbandan might have an edge but division of Jat votes might pose a problem, he said.
Nagar will be targeting three lakh votes of the SC/ST, one lakh Gujjar and five lakh Muslim votes, said some voters.
Siddiqui is a new entrant to the Congress. He was the Muslim face of the BSP, became the party's legislator from Agra in 1991 and was also a minister in Mayawati's cabinet.
The BSP chief expelled him from the party in 2017 for what she called "anti party" activities.
Later, Siddiqui joined the Congress and is currently a member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.
Many voters said Siddiqui is an outsider who is mainly targeting the Muslim population.
What he does not understand is that most Muslims are treating him as an outsider and he is also targeting us (Muslims) and not other sections which might act against him, said Yasmin Sameer, a Sadar Bazar resident.
But it will be interesting to see how Siddiqui takes on his former BSP colleague Nagar, she added.
Bijnor has five assembly seats -- Meerapur, Chandpur, Purqazi, Bijnor and Hastinapur.
Bijnor has a total of 15,62,065 voters, including 7,13,459 women.
The votes will be counted on May 23.
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