Caste equation to turn tides in Jewar

JEWAR: The Jewar assembly constituency, a traditional Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) stronghold, made headlines in 2011 when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Bhatta-Parsaul during the anti-land acquisition agitation.
The constituency, comprising the Jewar, Rabupura and Dankaur blocks, is dominated by powerful caste groups like the Gujjars and Thakurs. Of the total voters here, there are about 55,000 Thakurs, 53,000 Gujjars, 20,000 Brahmins and Jats each, and 40,000 Muslims, while the rest of the voters comprise mainly valmikis and jatavs.
For the upcoming Lok Sabha election, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Dr Mahesh Sharma, a Brahmin, while Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have fielded Ramesh Tomar and K P Singh respectively, both of whom are Rajputs. Samajwadi Party (SP) and BSP have fielded Gujjars to contest the polls.
While the caste equation is likely to play an important role in the Lok Sabha election, a sizeable number of BSP votes may shift to SP because post-Bhatta-Parsaul, criminal cases were slapped against a number of farmers and they were put behind bars by the Mayawati government. In 2012, however, the Akhilesh Yadav-led Uttar Pradesh (UP) government withdrew the criminal cases against the farmers. The chief minister said they were innocent and the cases were being abjured for the sake of justice.
During the Bhatta-Parsaul agitation, Gandhi visited the area aiming to ensure victory for Congress candidate Thakur Dhirendra Singh from the Jewar seat but he failed. BSP's Vedram Bhati defeated Singh by a margin of 9,502 votes. Bhati got 67,469 votes, while Singh secured 57,967. Vijendra Bhati of SP got 35,138 votes. The win signified BSP's third consecutive victory in Jewar.
Despite a total population of over 5 lakh people, Jewar lacks basic infrastructure facilities, development, primary education and most importantly, rehabilitation for land acquisition-hit families.