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Congress candidate likely to win Aligarh

Basharat Peer in Aligarh

Phool Hussain runs a canteen near the Aligarh Medical College. Content with the cash flowing smoothly thanks to his clientele from the medical fraternity, he takes keen interest in the politics of the city.

And, like most of Aligarh's Muslims, he decided to vote for Congress candidate Vivek Bansal, who is a Hindu. "He is a nice man, who has always been helpful to us," says Hussain. "I am going to vote for him." Besides, believes Hussain, Bansal is the best bet to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party out.

A feud within the BJP has been another positive factor for the Congress. The BJP here denied its ticket to O P Agarwal, a veteran of local politics, who is seen as a secularist and would have fetched them some percentage of the sizeable Muslim vote.

Rebuked by his parent party, Agarwal has jumped into the fray as an independent, who is getting tacit support from another BJP oustee, former chief minister Kalyan Singh and his Rashtriya Krantikari Party.

Agarwal will eat into the traditional BJP vote bank. He has his own following, though it is not enough to see him through. And that makes it even better for the Congress, says Mohammed Nazar, a party activist.

It is not that people are dying to vote for Congress, but they are not happy with the BJP's governance. The area has faced major power cuts over the last few years. The Ram temple issue too has lost steam, says Professor T A Nizami, who chairs the Centre for Nehruvian Studies at the Aligarh Muslim University.

Another seasoned analyst, Prof Murtaza Khan of the AMU's political science department, says that although the Muslim vote in Aligarh City will be divided, the Muslim factor always tilts the balance here. Anyone for whom the majority of Muslims vote is the winner. And the majority seems to be voting Congress this time.

Apart from the factionalism in the BJP, it is the perceived wrong choice of candidate by the others that is helping the Congress.

The Samajwadi Party has denied a ticket to Abdul Khaleq, outgoing member of the legislative assembly, and instead chosen one Razia whose husband Challiya was allegedly a gangster and was murdered by rivals in NOIDA.

"How can you vote for her when there are better candidates around?" asks Mohammed Abrar, who lives on Marris Road, close to the Congress candidate's house.

Khaleq, who is now in the fray as an independent, is not seen as a candidate to be banked upon, seeing the number of times he has changed parties in the past. His sole focus now is to ensure the defeat of the Samajwadi Party's official candidate.

Seeing that Muslims constitute more than 40 per cent of Aligarh's 300,000-plus voters, the Bahujan Samaj Party has bet on Haji Muqeet, a businessman from Uperkot, a Muslim-dominated pocket of the town.

Uperkot is a lower middle class pocket that generally votes for the Samajwadi Party, but this time the winds of change are evident here too. Apart from the usual Samajwadi and BSP flags, Congress flags too welcome you here.

"Haji Muqeet will attract some Muslim votes, but not much," says a shopkeeper Mohammed Aslam. "The Muslim vote will be divided, but I see most of the Muslims voting for the Congress candidate, as they believe the Congress is the best bet to check the BJP at this moment."

The Muslims seem reluctant to support the BSP because of the widespread belief in the region that in the case of a hung assembly, which is highly probable, BSP leader and former chief minister Mayawati will strike a deal with the BJP.

"The BSP has had shifting stands and can align with anyone for power," remarks Mohammed Qasim, a librarian. "That is going to hold back Muslims from voting for the BSP even though it has fielded a Muslim candidate."

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