2024 Lok Sabha polls: Amid history of change, Rohilkhand’s heart Amroha a magnet for top leaders
Since 1980, the Amroha constituency has never repeated its MP in successive Lok Sabha elections as the pendulum of victory has swung from one party to another
Known for dholak and mangoes and a history of change over the past four decades, Amroha has turned into a major electoral battlefield where top leaders of the BJP-led NDA, the SP led INDIA bloc and the BSP campaigned on three successive days in a bid to win the seat in the heartland of the Rohilkhand region of western Uttar Pradesh.
Leading the attack on the opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 19 said dholak beats indicate the BJP’s victory not only in Amroha, but also in the neighbouring constituencies.
“The beats of the dholak are heard far and wide. It will create a new record of the return of the NDA government to power with a bigger margin than that of the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections,” he said at a public meeting in support of BJP candidate Kanwar Singh Tanwar.
The next day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav were in the constituency to launch the joint campaign of the INDIA bloc.
In an apparent reply to Modi’s remark, Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said, “The people of Amroha use dholak and nagada (drum) to welcome people as well as for their farewell. This time, the dholak beats indicate that people have decided to remove the BJP from power in the Lok Sabha election.”
In tune with Akhilesh’s speech, Rahul Gandhi said with the beats of the dholak, the people will get money in their accounts under the Mahalaxmi scheme.
The INDIA bloc has fielded sitting MP Kunwar Danish Ali, who was suspended from the BSP, on the Congress ticket.
Hardly had the political dust raised by NDA and INDIA rallies settled that BSP chief Mayawati was in Amroha on Sunday to campaign for the party candidate. She called upon the party supporters to ensure the victory of the party candidate with a bigger margin in comparison to the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
“The people of Amroha should send a message that those who betray the party leadership bite dust in the election,” she said.
Amroha has been setting the trend in the politics of Rohilkhand region in successive Lok Sabha and assembly elections, said JS Hindu Degree (Amroha) principal Virendra Singh.
“In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the people of Amroha voted for the BJP leading to a saffron sweep in the region. In 2019, the NDA march was halted in the constituency leading to the SP-BSP alliance winning over half-a-dozen seats in the region,” he said.
“Amroha has been seat of culture and learning in western U.P. The message from this constituency resonates in the area. The leaders of all the political parties are camping here to woo voters. In this election, the voters are silent, but echo of dholak beats has picked up setting the pitch for a fierce contest among the BJP, SP and BSP in the Lok Sabha election,” Singh said.
“Amroha has a mosaic of castes and communities -- Muslims, Dalits, Lodhs, Jats, Sainis, Gujjars, Brahmins and Rajputs. They play a decisive role in the election,” said Bhuwan Sharma, a political observer and Amroha resident.
The BJP candidate Kanwar Singh Tanwar is a Gujjar while the Congress candidate Danish Ali and BSP pick Mujahid Hussain are Muslims, setting the stage for a three- cornered contest, he said.
Before the rise of saffron politics in 2014, the district witnessed a tussle between BSP and SP over changing the name of the district.
The BSP government had named it Jyotiba Phule Nagar, but the Samajwadi Party government restored Amroha.
The constituency has changed its MP in every election over the past 44 years.
In 1977, Chandrapal Singh of the Janata Party won the seat and retained it in 1980. Congress candidate Ram Pal Singh won the seat in 1984, Janata Dal’s Har Govind was elected in 1989, Chetan Chauhan won the seat on the BJP ticket in 1991 and 1998.
Samajwadi Party candidate Pratap Singh Saini won in 1996. Rashid Alvi wrested the seat for the Bahujan Samaj Party in 1999.Harish Nagpal won as an independent candidate in 2004, the RLD’s Devendra Nagpal won the seat in 2009 while Kanwar Singh Tanwar bagged it for the BJP in 2014 and Danish Ali wrested the seat for the BSP in 2019.
Polling in Amroha will be held in second phase on April 26.
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