Battlelines drawn over faith in turf of Sangeet Som

Sardhana: The sky is overcast with dark clouds and occasional raindrops add to the winter chill. But on the ground here, there is ample sunshine. It is 10 am and Sangeet Som, the BJP’s Hindu poster boy in western UP, is waiting to embark on his campaign. A sizeable crowd of boys, all in their 20s and early 30s, hover around with saffron gamchas and headbands.

Slogans such as “Mat rehna is chakkar mein, koi nahin hai takkar mein (don’t be under any illusion, there’s no contest)” rent the air as Mr Som goes around meeting people, giving sound bites to TV channels and issuing instructions in between. In the past three years, Mr Som has emerged as controversy’s favourite child. He is alleged to have started the Muzaffarnagar riots with his fiery speech at a mahapanchayat in 2013. He later spent days in jail for it.

About these controversies, he says: “I didn’t do anything. I only stood by my people. Was it a crime? If yes, then I’ll do it again and again.” Mr Som , 39, won his first elections in 2012 from Sardhana, which is in Meerut district, but is actually a part of Muzaffarnagar constituency. Within five years, he positioned himself as the “Adityanath of the West”.

If Mr Som is trying his best to keep his constituency polarised on religious lines, his main opponent, Imran Qureshi, of BSP is doing exactly the same. Mr Qureshi is the son of former BSP leader Haji Yakub Qureshi, who made headlines when he offered a reward of Rs 51 crore for getting him the head of a Danish cartoonist who made sketches of the Prophet.

“We have to remain united to thwart their (BJP) designs. If the BSP comes to power, we are safe for the next five years, otherwise these people (BJP) will keep harassing us,” Mr Qureshi says. Muslims constitute 35 per cent of the population and the buzz in the community is to “remain united”.