Baghpat, historically known as Vyaghraprastha (the land of tigers), is one of the politically significant regions in Uttar Pradesh. It is one of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh and voting will take place there in the second phase of parliamentary elections on April 26.

The Baghpat Lok Sabha constituency in west UP comprises five Vidhan Sabha segments – Siwalkhas, Chhaprauli, Baraut, Baghpat and Modi Nagar. The incumbent Member of Parliament is Dr Satya Pal Singh, representing the Bharatiya Janata Party.

In the 2019 general elections, Dr Satya Pal Singh secured victory with 5,25,789 votes, defeating Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary by a margin of 23,502 votes as the constituency registered 64.68 per cent voter turnout. The daytime temperature on the day of polling is likely to remain higher.

This region was once under the influence of farmer and Jat leader Ajit Singh, a maverick politician who used any opportunity to the hilt. In his prime days in politics, it was said whether Ajit Singh wins or loses, no party can afford to ignore him and every party wanted him in its fold if foraying into west UP. After Ajit Singh, his son Jayant Chaudhary stepped into his shoes and took over command of the RLD. With Jayant having a good hold over Jats, his support is considered crucial by all parties for electoral success in Baghpat. Sensing this, the National Democratic Alliance succeeded in wooing Jayant into its fold by conferring Bharat Ratna on his late grandfather, former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh.

The RLD had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election in alliance with Samajwadi Party and the coming together of Jat, Dalit and Muslim voters gave a tough fight to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Baghpat. Though Jayant Chaudhary lost the Baghpat seat, the margin of victory of Dr Satypal Malik of the BJP was about 23,000 votes. Now the Lok Sabha election 2024 will be a litmus test of Jayant’s decision to join the NDA.

This time, RLD’s Raj Kumar Sagwan is contesting from Baghpat. The SP has fielded Amarpal Sharma, a Brahmin, and Bahujan Samaj Party Parveen Bansal, setting the stage for a triangular contest. Interestingly, this is the first time that no one from the Chaudhary dynasty is contesting election from Baghpat.

Recently, in reaction to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s statement about his (Jayant) being a turncoat, Jayant said the statement aimed at discrediting him among his core voters in the west UP and on the seats under his influence.

He reacted to the SP chief’s jibe, saying he had not been a turncoat but he had trounced his opponents. “Ise palatna nahi patkhani dena kahte hai. Hum bhi thoda bahut mall vidhya jante hai.”

In his speeches, Jayant has invoked Ajit Singh and late prime minister Bharat Ratna Chaudhary Charan Singh.

Political analysts say Jayant even tries to keep his support base intact in west UP by saying “those who begged for votes in the name of Chaudhary Charan Singh are now not happy with Bharat Ratna being conferred on him”.

“You can check their social media accounts to find out if I am right. They could not even welcome my grandfather getting Bharat Ratna for his contribution to the country,” he said in a meeting in Muzaffarnagar.

Jayant has opted to pose himself a defender, saying he would not react to comments on him by his former ally. By saying that he would not speak anything personal, he has taken a soft stand to keep intact his support base among Muslims, who are weighing the options between RLD and SP.

Baghpat Lok Sabha constituency encompasses the entire Baghpat district, part of Ghaziabad district, and part of Meerut district. With a literacy rate of 62.53 per cent, this parliamentary seat has approximately 2,27,946 Scheduled Caste voters comprising 14.2 per cent of the population as per the 2011 Census. The rural-urban distribution stands at 74.9 per cent (12,02,335) and 25.1 per cent (4,02,919), respectively, based on the 2011 Census. In the 2019 parliamentary election, Baghpat had 16,05,254 voters who voted in 1,796 polling booths, achieving a turnout of 64.2 per cent. The 2017 assembly election witnessed a turnout of 65.8 per cent, reflecting the active political engagement in the region.

Baghpat is best known for the Pura Maha Dev hill shrine.