In his first public address as the Muzaffarnagar MLA on Tuesday, BJP’s Kapil Deo Agarwal said the party would not tolerate any attack on the honour of Hindu women.
Addressing a crowd from the inner sanctum of a Shiva temple in the heart of the city, Mr. Agarwal sent the stern message amid loud slogans of ‘Jai Shree Ram’.
Union Minister for State for Agriculture and Member of Parliament from Muzaffarnagar Sanjeev Baliyan who was also present said the BJP victory in Muzaffarnagar would expand to the entire State.
Given the fact that his entire election campaign targeted a “particular community” for attacking the “honour of Hindu women”, it was not difficult to guess who the message was addressed to.
Mr. Agarwal’s main campaign slogan went ‘ Bahu beti ke samman me / Kapil Deo maidan me (Kapil Deo is contesting the poll for the sake of the honour of daughters and daughters-in-law).
Flanked by Union Minister for State for Agriculture and Member of Parliament from Muzaffarnagar Sanjeev Baliyan, Mr. Agarwal was speaking to a charged crowd constantly raising the slogan ( only those who talk about the interest of Hindus will rule the country) and “Ram Lala hum aayenge/ mandir wahin banayenge (Oh! Lord Ram, we will come and build a temple at that place only)”.
The symbolism of Mr. Agarwal’s first public address as the Muzaffarnagar MLA from the inner sanctum of a Shiva temple in such a surcharged atmosphere went beyond just the city. From what local party leaders told The Hindu , Muzaffarnagar will write the dominant narratives of the State Assembly elections in 2017.
Ironically, the party that flaunts Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas as its national agenda had kept divisive issues like Ram Mandir, Muzaffarnagar riots and love jihad as the dominant issues to mobilise voters.
Mr. Baliyan announced that the BJP victory in Muzaffarnagar would expand to the entire State.
“This will be our fourth victory. First was the Lok Sabha, then Zila Panchayat and local panchayat and then the Assembly seat,” he said, adding that the BJP “rules Muzaffarnagar with its representatives holding the post of MP, MLA, ‘nagar Palika’ chairman as well as local panchayat bodies.”
Certain BJP leaders said the party’s victory in a sense made up for its defeat in two other seats, Deoband and Bikapur, in more ways than one. Local BJP leaders as well as Mr. Baliyan conceded that winning Muzaffarnagar seat was “symbolically extremely crucial for the party at several levels.”
Mr. Baliyan said it was a matter of prestige for him and for the party’s reputation to win the seat. It was for nothing that Mr. Baliyan held over 120 small public meetings in the span of about a month.
Though it was only a small Assembly constituency and a large part of it constituted an urban electorate that generally favours the BJP, Mr. Baliyan covered even small lanes and colonies more than once.
“There were small lanes where mantriji (Sanjeev Baliyan) went more than once,” said Virendar Singh, Mr. Baliyan’s close aide.
“Everybody knows that it was the spark of Muzaffarnagar riots that led to BJP winning 73 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh,” Mr. Singh said, highlighting what he termed as “popular perception”.
Party sources said a defeat in Muzaffarnagar would “certainly have demoralised the workers and sent the indication that the narrative of polarisation which led to our victory in Lok Sabha, was not working”.
Interestingly, a cursory look at the slogans chanted through several kilometres through which the victory procession ran, also gave an indication about the road ahead for the BJP.
“Hindustan me rahna hai/to Vande Mataram kehna hoga ( You have to chant Vande Mataram if you have to stay in this country), was the constant reminder which the BJP worker gave out on the loudspeaker all through the several kilometers of victory procession. The slogan basically refers to Muslim community which “popularly argues that it does not do 'Vandana' of anybody except God as it was prohibited by Islam”.
"Jo Hindu hit ki baat karega/wahi desh per raj karega" ( only those who talk about interest of Hindus will rule the country); "Jaikare veer bajrange/Har har Mahade" and "Jai Shri Ram" resonated all through the victory procession.
"Gali Gali aur chappa chappa/ raj karega Hindu baccha" ( Hindu child will rule the nook and corner of the country) was another slogan which kept the BJP supporters charged.
