The tone of campaigning in west Uttar Pradesh (UP) was set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the first week of February when during an election rally in Meerut he said the BJP was fighting in UP against SCAM (S for Samajwadi, C for Congress, A for Akhilesh and M for Mayawati).
The very next day, Akhilesh Yadav countered him and said SCAM is meant as save the country from Amit Shah and company. A few days later, BSP chief Mayawati, who has fielded 100 Muslim candidates, violated the Supreme Court directive of not seeking votes on the basis of caste and religion by asking members of the minority community to vote for the Dalit party as “the vote to other parties will indirectly help the BJP to capture power in the State”.
Also, BJP’s poster boy Sangeet Som, who is seeking second term from Meerut’s Sardhana, violated the mode code of conduct by screening documentaries on Muzzafarnagar riots while campaigning in his constituency. A case was registered against him and two others in this connection.
The region witnessed the emergence of the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance when Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi addressed a joint rally in Meerut. The new partners swore by the alliance and promised to uproot communal and casteist forces. They said the alliance had created a storm in the Sate and will uproot the Opposition parties.
Moreover, the region known as Jatland saw the revival of the Rashtriya lok Dal (RlD). Despite this, RlD faces an uphill task as chances of split among voters are high.
Two incidents of violence rocked the region as one BSP worker was killed and the brother of former BSP Minister Ramvir Upadhyay was injured in the attack.
Others to campaign in the region included former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief lalu Prasad. He extensively campaigned for his son-in-law Rahul Yadav, who is contesting on SP ticket from Bulandshahr. During his interaction with the media, lalu described Modi “a dangerous man” and cautioned the people to be wary of him.
BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj created a controversy in the region by saying that an exponential growth in population in the country was because of people (read Muslims) who have four wives and 40 children. A case was registered against him as the minority community leaders sought and apology from him for casting aspersions on the entire community.