Elections Results 2014: BJP wins all 3 riot-accused seats in west UP with big margins

MUZAFFARNAGAR: The Muzaffarnagar riots and the polarization that followed worked wonders for BJP. The party won all the 10 seats in western UP that polled on April 7. Among them were the three riot-accused, Sanjeev Baliyan (Muzaffarnagar), Kunwar Bhartendra Singh (Bijnor) and Hukum Singh (Kairana). They all beat their nearest rival by a huge margin.

All three were accused of inciting communal passions during mahapanchayat that preceded the riots in Muzaffarnagar eight months ago.

Not many were surprised when Sanjeev Baliyan won by close to 4 lakh votes, with the Muslim votes splitting between SP, BSP and RLD.

Muslims were the most disillusioned. Mohd Saleem, a tailor, said, "This time Muslims could not decide which way to vote and this led to the split of votes among SP, BSP and RLD." Blaming a lack of alternatives, Usman Ali said, "What choice did I have? SP will still remain in power for another three years. If I do not vote for the SP candidate then whom do I vote? BJP?"

But Surendra Sharma, an advocate, blamed SP squarely for the way they handled the riots. "Police were doing their job to control the riots in September last year and yet the DM and SSP were transferred because they dared to arrest the culprits in the first place," he said.

Others were less circumspect in their analysis of the result. Says Naresh Tyagi, a businessman, "Corruption and lack of development were certainly the issues here before the riots began, but after that it became a matter of compulsion for Hindus to vote for BJP. And, there are solid reasons for that. Take, for example, all the areas which are close to Muslim settlements. It is difficult for our women to even venture out."

An advocate in Muzaffarnagar blamed the UP government's inept handling of the riots for SP's poor performance. "Police were doing their job to control the riots in September last year and yet the DM and SSP were transferred," he said.