Uttar Pradesh assembly elections 2022: In 2012, with a population that has 41.95% Muslims, and 21% Dalits, of its seven seats, four were won by the Bahujan Samaj Party, one by the BJP, one by the Congress, and one by the SP. In 2017, aided by a fierce Hindu polarisation, the BJP won four seats, including Deoband, with two going to the Congress, and one to the SP.
Mohammad Ilyas (57), considered a learned man in his neighbourhood, is exasperated. Everyday in the morning around 9 am, a group of local residents gather at his single-room tuition centre for tea and conversation. The talk has been much the same this past month, leading to his annoyance.
Ilyas, a lifelong Congress voter, has been advocating a shift of support to the Samajwadi Party. His decision is being dissected threadbare, the men around him playing the devil’s advocate. What has Akhilesh Yadav ever done for Muslims, one asks. Another argues that it is only the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen that truly represents Muslims. And Ilyas has had enough.
Waving his hands for them to leave so that he can attend to his students, he has one last word. “I am not saying any of this is incorrect. But think of the government when you vote. There is only one party’s MLA (the Bharatiya Janata Party’s MLA and candidate Brijesh Singh) who has said they will rename Deoband to Devvrand. Only another government will prevent that from happening.”
Similar conversations are playing out in Muslim neighbourhoods across western Uttar Pradesh, which goes to the polls across the first two phases of the assembly elections. None more so than in Saharanpur district, home of Deoband and the Darul Uloom Deoband, one of India’s most influential Islamic seminaries.
In 2012, with a population that has 41.95% Muslims, and 21% Dalits, of its seven seats, four were won by the Bahujan Samaj Party, one by the BJP, one by the Congress, and one by the SP. In 2017, aided by a fierce Hindu polarisation, the BJP won four seats, including Deoband, with two going to the Congress, and one to the SP.
The Deoband numbers tell the story. The city has a 71% population of Muslims, but overall, the constituency has 40% Muslim population. In the 2017 elections, Singh garnered 102,244 votes, aided by a near down the middle split of votes between the SP and the BSP, both of which had fielded Muslim candidates. Majid Ali of the BSP managed 72,844 votes, and Maviya Ali of the SP 55,385 votes.
