"Don't Be Misled By Caste Politics": UP CM Campaigns For Sanjeev Balyan In Sardhana After Thakurs Protest Against BJP

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday (10 April) campaigned for BJP's Muzaffarnagar candidate Sanjeev Balyan in Sardhana.

Sardhana is one of the Assembly segments under Muzaffarnagar Parliamentary constituency. It is known for presence of Thakurs and has 24 major Rajput villages.

While seeking votes for Balyan, who is a Jat, the UP CM urged the people to ignore personal disagreements and instead vote for national interest.

He also asked people to not be misled by caste politics. This comes at a time when some Rajput groups are protesting against BJP as no Rajput leader was given a Lok Sabha ticket from the region.

Yogi said, "Jaati ke saudagar upyog karenge, baad me saudebaji karke gayab ho jayenge (casteist leaders only use public sentiments and then vanish)", urging the people to not be misled.

Heavyweight Rajput leader Sangeet Som was defeated by Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate in the 2022 Assembly elections after serving a term as Sardhana MLA from 2017 to 2022.

There was a demand to give Lok Sabha ticket to him but the BJP decided to repeat incumbent MP Balyan. Moreover, the disappointment is that there is only one Rajput among the 27 BJP candidates in western UP.

In Ghaziabad, VK Singh's ticket was cut and Atul Garg was fielded. In Moradabad also, ticket was expected for Sarvesh Singh but this didn't happen, disappointing Rajputs further.

Apart from pacifying Rajputs, Yogi also highlighted the works done by double engine government. He asked people to choose that party which conducts kanwar yatra, rather than imposing curfews.

Yogi emphasised his action against mafia and said, "We have cooled them down. Now, don't let them gain steam again. They have gone," without naming anyone.

He appealed the people to double the margin of victory for Balyan. In 2019, Balyan won just by a margin of over 6,000 votes against Rashtriya Lok Dal's (RLD) Ajit Singh and is seeking a third term now.

While RLD is now an ally of BJP under National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Balyan will have to face SP's Harendra Singh Malik, former MLA and former Rajya Sabha MP. He is also a Jat.