Kairana bypoll: It’s BJP vs Mahagathbandhan of SP, BSP, Congress, RLD

The picture for the political battle of Kairana Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, which will see a bypoll on May 28 after the demise of BJP MP Hukum Singh, is now completely clear. BJP’s candidate Mriganka Singh, daughter of Hukum Singh, is facing an unprecedented united opposition. Tabassum Hasan, wife of former Samajwadi Party MP Munnawar Hasan, will enjoy the combined political might of Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal. The Opposition has a good chance of handing another defeat to BJP, after SP and BSP jointly humiliated the ruling party in the centre and in the state, in recent Lok Sabha bypolls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

As per a special arrangement, Tabassum Hassan will be fighting the election on RLD’s symbol. Her son Nahid Hasan is an SP legislator. Besides SP and BSP, Hasan can also count on Congress support. Congress leader Imran Masood had earlier opposed her ticket, but he has now also come out in her support. Tabassum has previously been a BSP MP from Kairana in 2009, when she defeated Hukum Singh. If she loses in this election, then Mriganka Singh will also have taken revenge for that defeat of her father.

At the moment, it looks like a neck-to-neck fight in the election battle. Hukum Singh defeated Nahid Hasan from the Kairana Lok Sabha in 2014. After that, in the 2017 assembly elections, Nahid Hasan defeated Mriganka Singh. Earlier, there were noises about RLD scion Jayant Chaudhary being considered as a joint candidate, but the threat of mobilisation of Gujjars in favour of Mriganka Singh brought Tabbasam Hasan to the forefront. According to the former legislator and Congress leader Rao Waris of Thana Bhavan, Tabassum Hasan's position has strengthened with the new equation. Mriganka Singh will gain sympathy due to the fact that she has lost her father. However, Tabassum Hasan is also a widow and a few days ago, her father-in-law and former MP Akhtar Hasan passed away. The announcement of the ticket of Mriganka Singh has been announced today but she has been campaigning for last one month.

Kairana to see Gujjar vs Gujjar fight

The political fight in Kairana is now between the daughter and daughter-in-law of Gujjars. In fact, Hukum Singh and Munnawar Hasan both come from the same family and both belong to Kalsyan Khap. At one time, the Hasan family had accepted Islam religion, whereas Hukum Singh's family remained in Hindu religion. Kairana is a Gujjar-dominated seat, there are around 4 lakh Gurjars, out of which half are Muslim Gujjars. Local Gujjars are influenced more by caste rather than religion, and a slogan is famous here that "Gujjar-Gurjar are one whether Hindu or Muslim".

The united Opposition noticed the inclination of Muslim Gujjars towards Mriganka Singh, much before the candidates were announced. That is why they pitted Gujjar’s daughter-in-law opposite Gujjar’s daughter.

Mohammad Ali, a local activist in Kairana says, "If Tabbasum Bhabhi would not have been pitted against sister Mriganka, than half of the Muslims would have voted for Mriganka in Kairana. For the Gujjars, the caste is above religion”. Earlier, despite being in BJP, Hukum Singh had bagged votes of Muslims. Kairana's Meharban Mansuri said, "Hukum Singh had lost respect of the Muslims for irresponsible statements in cases like Muzaffarnagar riots and migration, otherwise Muslims respected him and referred to him as ‘Babuji’.” Even now, some Muslims are with his daughter. In the recent municipal elections, Hukum Singh had helped Munnawar Hasan's brother Anwar Hasan to win the election. Now Anwar Hasan is not with his sister-in-law Tabassum. He is with his cousin sister, Mriganka.