April 9, 2019
SAHARANPUR (UP): The Bhim Army has appealed to the Dalit community to vote
for Imran Masood, the Congress candidate in Saharanpur Lok Sabha constituency.
It has a considerable following in western Uttar Pradesh among the Dalits. This
follows Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati calling Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar
Azad as a "BJP agent."
The rally of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary for east
Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Saharanpur was called off on Tuesday
where the announcement of support was to be made. The meeting was called off
due to bad weather.
The BSP-SP-RLD alliance has fielded Faizul Rehman for the seat. Sitting BJP
MP Raghav Lakhanpal is seeking re-election from the constituency. At a joint
rally in Deoband in the constituency on Sunday, Mayawati had appealed to Muslim
voters to consolidate behind Mr Rehman and ensure that their votes do not get
split. A Bhim Army leader alleged that BSP-SP activists manhandled a number
of Dalits carrying pictures of Chandrashekhar at the rally and tore their posters.
Congress general secretary for east Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had
met Chandrashekhar at a Meerut hospital last month. When Chandrashekhar announced
plan to contest against Prime Minister Modi in Varanasi, Mayawati had termed
him an "agent of the BJP who wants to split Dalit votes".
In response to her remark, Chandrashekhar had said SP chief Akhilesh Yadav
and his father Mulayam Singh were "agents of the BJP" as they "allowed atrocities
on Dalits".
During the 2018 Kairana Lok Sabha bypoll, the Bhim Army had made an appeal
to voters in favour of the opposition candidate, RLD's Tabassum Hassan, who
managed to get Dalit support.
In 2014, Lakhanpal had won. Masood came close second with 4,07, 909 votes.
Of a total of 17,22,580 voters, six lakh are Muslims. There are around three
lakh SC/ST voters. Saharanpur goes to te polls in the first phase on April 11.
