Kairana model may be replicated in LS polls

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, January 16

Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal vice-president Jayant Chaudhury met here today, triggering speculation that Kairana model may be replicated during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

During the May 2018 Kairana Lok Sabha bypoll, SP leader Tabassum Hasan, contesting on the RLD symbol, defeated BJP candidate Mriganka Singh by a record margin. The bypoll was necessitated by the death of Singh’s father and sitting MP Hukum Singh.

The decision to field Hasan led to consolidation of Muslim and Jat votes. Setting aside bitterness of the Muzaffarnagar riots, the two communities jointly defeated the BJP on the more real issue of agrarian crisis, especially the problems of sugarcane farmers of the region.

Dalits had also voted for Hasan as the Kairana Lok Sabha constituency has two Assembly segments from Saharanpur district where the community had been agitated since the Shabbirpur violence of April-May 2017.

While there was no official briefing on the meeting, sources said besides the two seats to be allocated to the RLD from SP’s share of 38, another seat might be contested under the Kairana model — candidate contesting on the other party’s symbol.

During the meeting, sources said, Chaudhary discussed the importance of the Kairana model and the need to replicate it by staying flexible and focussing on consolidation of votes and victory.

Speaking to mediapersons, the RLD leader later said the talks were held in a cordial atmosphere. He said number of seats allocated was not the issue, “what mattered more is to cobble up a credible coalition against the BJP”.

A similar experiment was implemented in the Gorakhpur byelection in March 2018, where a Nishad party candidate Praveen Nishad won on the SP ticket, defeating BJP candidate in Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath’s bastion.