Ambedkar Nagar
Best known for being the home of socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia, Ambedkar Nagar (called Akbarpur before delimitation in 2008) is also the constituency from here Mayawati won four times. Interestingly, the BSP supremo recently remarked that if she were to become Prime Minister, she would contest from this seat. “If all goes well, I may have to seek election form here because the road to national politics passes through Ambedkar Nagar,” she had said recently.

According to census data, 16. 75 per cent of the population identifies as Muslim. Also, 24.7 per cent Ambedkar Nagar’s population comprises people from different Scheduled Castes. These include Jatav, Dhobi and Pasi communities. There is also a significant population of Kurmis, Baniyas and Yadavs.

Once a BSP bastion, it was only in 2014 that BJP was able to open its account here with Hari Om Pandey’s victory. But the BJP denied a ticket to Pandey and has instead fielded Mukut Bihari Verma. Meanwhile the BSP has fielded Ritesh Pandey. Interestingly, the INC had fielded Ummed Singh Nishad, widower of dacoit turned politician Phoolan Devi, but his nomination was cancelled.

Allahabad:
The Allahabad constituency covers the assembly segments of Meja, Karacchana, Bara, Koraon and Allahabad South, all of which fall within the district of Allahabad (now renamed Prayagraj) which is the most densely populated district in the state. This constituency has elected stalwarts like Lal Bahadur Shastri, VP Singh, Amitabh Bachchan and Murli Manohar Joshi.

But in a twist of fate, the BJP candidate Dr. Rita Bahuguna Joshi was previously with the INC, while the Congress candidate Yogesh Shukla is ex-BJP. Interestingly, the sitting BJP MP sc Gupta also switched sides and is now contesting from Banda on an SP ticket! In Allahabad, the SP has fielded Rajendra Singh Patel while MB Nath Valmiki is the AAP candidate.

According to census data, while 22 per cent of the population belongs to Scheduled Castes, 13.38 per cent identify as Muslim.

Phulpur:
Allahabad’s twin Phulpur is the constituency of Pt Jawaharlal Nehru. The seat was also held by his sister Vijaya Laxmi Pandit. Phulpur includes five assembly segments namely, Allahabad North, Allahabad West, Soraon, Phaphamau and Phulpur, all of which are a part of Allahabad district.

Once a Congress bastion, it switched allegiance to the Samajwadi Party, though in 2014 the seat was won by the BJP. Keshav Prasad Maurya held charge till March 2017, when he was named the Dy CM of UP. In the 2018 by-polls the Samajwadi Party won the seat back. The incumbent is Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel of the SP. The BJP has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel, while Manish Mishra is the Congress candidate.

Azamgarh:
Azamgarh is one of UP’s most diverse constituencies. According to census data, 25.4 per cent of the population belongs to Scheduled Castes. These include people from Jatav, Pasi and Dhobi communities. 15.58 per cent of the population also identify as Muslim. It is the Yadav, Dalit and Muslim voters who have formed the electoral backbone of parties like the SP and BSP, and are expected to have an impact on the Mahagathbandhan’s fortunes in this election.

Azamgarh parliamentary constituency covers the assembly segments of Gopalpur, Sagri, Mubarakpur, Mehnagar and Azamgarh. This constituency has changed hands between the INC, the BSP and the SP. Sitting MP Mulayam Singh Yadav is a former Chief Minister as is his son Akhilesh who is contesting from this constituency. The BJP has fielded Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’, a Bhojpuri movie star.
 

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Image: Indian Express
 
Bahraich: Muslim residents of Khair village in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh have fled after the police booked close to 200 people of their community under UAPA. 19 people were arrested and an FIR was lodged in connection with a clash on Oct 20 following a religious procession.
 
The police have arrested 19 people from Khair and claimed to have identified 52 others. Police officials, however, now claim the UAPA was invoked wrongly, and that they will drop it from the FIR.
 
Sabrang India had reported how an FIR was filed by a member of the Durga Puja procession Ashish Kumar Shukla. It was alleged that on 20th October 2018, a procession from a few villages for the immersion of a Durga idol turned violent at Khaira Bazar. Reports suggest that 40 Muslim are in police custody including those who have not been named in the FIR.
 
“Those 80 Muslims along with 100-200 others were hiding on the way of the procession and when it was passing through the Khaira village on way to Badnapur for immersion, they attacked it,” Shukla had said. The complainant claimed in the FIR that the attackers were armed with guns, pistols, bombs and swords and some 50 people were injured.
 
The village borders Nepal. Heavy police force including PAC has been deployed in Khair, and shops are closed. The village bears a deserted look, with most of the houses locked. The other houses are inhabited by the elderly, women and children. Many who have stayed back allege harassment by the police.
 
“There was a clash between Muslims and Hindus, but police registered FIR only against us. No FIR was lodged against people in the procession who engaged in brick-batting and attacked our houses and shops. Police are harassing us,” alleged 63-year-old Jaituna in a report by Indian Express. “All youths left home after the police started raiding our houses. Those who were found were arrested. My sons Ramzan Ali (30) and Nankau (28) are in jail,” says Jaituna, who is left with two daughters-in-law and 10 grandchildren.
 
The report added that those who have fled include former village head Mohammad Rasheed (45) and head cleric of Jama Masjid at Khair Bazaar, Hafiz Abdul Bari (43). “Rasheed’s family too has left. Police broke their doors and windows when women and children were inside,” says Mohammad Hasan, a neighbour. Farmer Karamatullah (55) says, “When the procession reached near Jama Masjid, some persons in the procession threw gulal on Muslims on the roadside. The latter objected, and a heated argument took place. But people intervened and the matter was resolved. Then some members in the procession again threw gulal inside the masjid, which led to an altercation. Both groups clashed.”
 
Additional Superintendent of Police, Bahraich, Ravindra Kumar Singh, in the report said, “So far, 71 Muslim youths have been identified as being involved in the clash. It was confirmed after scanning eight videos from locals. So far, 19 accused have been arrested.”
 
On why there is no FIR against the other group (Hindus), he said, “We have no evidence that two groups clashed. In the videos, people in the procession are only seen chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and not being involved in violence.”
 
He adds that UAPA had been wrongly been invoked, and they are probing how this happened. “We are now invoking Criminal Law Amendment Act,” he said in the report.
 
Sabrang India had reported that Human rights groups Rihai Manch and NCHRO (National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations), whose joint delegation visited the area on October 28, found the enaction of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)-1967 and other laws unnecessary in this case and poke many holes in the FIR. They claimed that the complaint was prepared even before the incident took place. Rihai Manch stated that this whole incident was concocted to show Muslims as anti-national and terrorists.

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Lucknow: In a press meet, members of a fact-finding team of Rihai Manch and NCHRO spoke to reporters about booking 80 Muslim men under the draconian UAPA law after visiting Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh.
 
UP Police have allegedly booked 80 Muslims and named 100-200 others as unknown, according to an FIR lodged in Baundi police station. The FIR has been filed by a member of the Durga Puja procession Ashish Kumar Shukla. It was alleged that on 20th October 2018, a procession from a few villages for the immersion of a Durga idol turned violent at Khaira Bazar. Reports suggest that 40 Muslim are in police custody including those who have not been named in the FIR.
 
“Those 80 Muslims along with 100-200 others were hiding on the way of the procession and when it was passing through the Khaira village on way to Badnapur for immersion, they attacked it. The complainant claimed in the FIR that the attackers were armed with guns, pistols, bombs and swords. He named three persons and 50-60 unknown persons from the procession who he said were seriously injured in the attack,” a report by Caravan Daily said.
 
A report also suggested that Muslim shops and households were damaged in the presence of the police and many men and women fled after the violence.
 
Human rights groups Rihai Manch and NCHRO (National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations), whose joint delegation visited the area on October 28, found the enaction of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)-1967 and other laws unnecessary in this case and poke many holes in the FIR. They claimed that the complaint was prepared even before the incident took place.
 
“The FIR does not mention the time of the incident but it mentions the time of the filing of the complaint. The complainant named 80 Muslims in the FIR besides 100-200 others as unknown but he mentions names of only three persons from the procession as injured and 50-60 other injured persons as unknown. The FIR has nothing that warrants invocation of UAPA against the accused,” the group said.
 
In the report, Rihai Manch president Adv. Mohammad Shoaib said, “After a cursory look at the FIR, the incident seems completely doubtful. The complainant has not written the time of the incident, yet FIR says the incident took place at 00:00 clock on 20 Oct and it was registered at 21:38 PM. The local police and communal elements jointly prepared this fake report. FIR names 80 people and 100-200 as unknown which does not seem believable. If 250-300 people had hidden themselves on a village road to attack a Hindu procession, they would have been noticed. Ashish Kumar Shukla names 80 people out of 250-300 but mentions names of only three persons who got injured and forgets 50-60 other injured. The person who does not remember injured members of his own procession, how can he remember 80 names from the other side? This proves that those named as accused in the FIR were already identified and marked by them.”
 
Rihai Manch stated that this whole incident was concocted to show Muslims as anti-national and terrorists.
 
The delegation met Bahraich SP and pointed out the wrong use of UAPA in the case. “Initially he insisted that it was correct, but when legal points raised, he promised to look into the case after chargesheet. But the question is that if they remain booked under UAPA, the police will have 180 days for filing the chargesheet, otherwise in normal IPC sections, they will have to file chargesheet within 90 days,” said Rajeev Yadav of Rihai Manch in the report.
 
The accused have been booked under six IPC sections (147, 148, 295-A, 296, 323, 506) and Section 7 of UAPA. 

Read Also:
https://sabrangindia.in/article/uapa-very-unjust-law-terms-bailalmost-life-sentence-anand-grover
https://sabrangindia.in/article/why-arrested-activists-shouldnt-despair-67-unlawful-activities-prevention-act-cases-ended
 

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Muslim women stand in a queue to cast their vote in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in Mathura. From 69 seats in 2012, the number of Muslims in the state’s assembly is down to 24.

 
This is equivalent to Muslim representation about a quarter of a century ago, in 1993, following the Babri Masjid riots of 1992 (5.9%) and less than two percentage points higher than recorded in 1991 (4.1%)–its lowest point–according to an IndiaSpend analysis of data from the Election Commission of India and The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy (Gilles Verniers, Uttar Pradesh State Assembly Legislators’ dataset), a think tank.
 
UP has 38.4 million Muslims–19.2% of its 200 million people–the most of any state and third, by proportion, after Assam and Kerala.
 
Of 24 Muslim members of legislative assembly (MLAs) who won in 2017, more than half, or 14, had won from the same constituencies before. A sixth of Muslim MLAs have represented their constituencies for the last 15 years at least. None are women (9.9% of new MLAs).
 

Source: Election Commission of India
The ‘-‘ sign in the ‘MLA Since’ column indicates the person was not an MLA between 1996 and 2017.
 
The constituencies of Muslim MLAs are largely located in the sub-regions of Rohilkhand and Upper Doab in Western UP and in the Poorvanchal region of eastern UP.
 
Muslim representation a third of what it should be
 
In the 2012 assembly elections, for the first time ever since Independence, Muslims achieved political representation (17.2%) almost proportional to their population (19.2%, according to the 2011 census).
 
Five years later, Muslim representation is a third of what it should be in proportion to population.
 

 
Muslim under-representation comes with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)–the national ruling party–recording a sweeping victory across UP without fielding any Muslim candidate. The Muslim vote is a determining factor in 34 of 80 Lok Sabha constituencies, and in 130 of 403 assembly constituencies, according to political scientist Gilles Verniers in this 2014 report for The Hindu Centre For Politics and Public Policy, a think tank.
 
While the BJP’s popularity, in terms of seats, has increased six-fold–from 47 seats of 403 in 2012 to 312 now–Muslim representation has dropped nearly 65%, from 68 seats in 2012 to 24 now, data from the Election Commission of India show.
 
Similar under-representation in the Lok Sabha
 
Muslims are underrepresented in the Lok Sabha as well.
 
For the first time since Independence, none of UP’s 80 members of parliament is Muslim. “Many believe this is due to a spate of Hindu-Muslim riots, especially the Muzaffarnagar violence, which polarised both communities,” said this 2014 Business Standard report.
 
Between 2010 and 2015, UP witnessed a five-fold increase in communal violence, and the polarisation was evident in village, towns and cities, IndiaSpend reported in February 2017.
 
The 2017 assembly results are reminiscent of the 1991 elections, when support for the BJP rose three times, as its tally rose from 57 seats in 1989 to 221 seats, and Muslim representation fell by more than half, from 8.9% to 4.1%, the lowest in post-colonial India.
 
There are three main reasons for low Muslim representation: Uneven geographic distribution across the state, “lost” seats due to reservations of constituencies for scheduled-caste candidates, and “vote-splitting”, caused by multiple Muslim candidates contesting from the same constituency, according to the Verniers report.
 
(Saldanha is an assistant editor with IndiaSpend.)

Courtesy: India Spend
 

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नोटबंदी ने बीजेपी की मुश्किलें बढ़ा दी हैं। जिसके बाद से मुस्लिम वोटर बीजेपी से नाराज हैं। मुस्लिम वोट अगर भाजपा के साथ नहीं आता है तो भाजपा मुस्लिम वोटों को सपा और बसपा में बांटने का काम करेगी। गौरतलब है कि सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने 5 राज्यों में होने वाले चुनाव के चलते अभी एक फैसला सुनाया था कि चुनाव में धर्म का इस्तेमाल करना गैरकानूनी है। सुप्रीम कोर्ट की 7 जजों की संवैधानिक पीठ ने कहा, 'धर्म, जाति, भाषा के आधार पर वोट नहीं मांगा जा सकता है। हमारा संविधान धर्मनिरपेक्ष है और उसकी इस प्रकृति को बनाए रखना चाहिए। उम्मीदवार या एजेंट धर्म का इस्तेमाल नहीं कर सकते हैं।'

लेकिन राजनैतिक दल लगातार धर्म और जाति की राजनीति करते हैं। सुप्रीम कोर्ट के फैसले का राजनैतिक पार्टियों पर कोई असर दिख नहीं रहा।

Courtesy: National Dastak

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