Kairana, which rose to national prominence as a result of the Hindu migration, was formerly the terror of Furkan, Mukim Kala, and Sabir Jandheri. Even now, hushed tones reveal how the police administration failed in the face of Nahid Hasan’s family supremacy under Akhilesh Yadav’s SP government. How the gangsters were let out of jail. Businessmen were murdered in broad daylight in their own stores for failing to pay the extortion. The law-and-order situation in Kairana is considered to be fine today. In the election debates, there are stories of Ajaypal Sharma, Ajay Kumar, Sukirti Madhav, and Prem Veer Singh Rana.
On February 10, 2022, voters in Uttar Pradesh will vote on 58 seats in 11 districts in the first round of the election. It also includes Kairana. Mriganka Singh of the BJP is contesting against Nahid Hasan of the SP in Kairana.
Ajaypal, Sukirti, and Prem Veer are not party candidates. They are not affiliated with any of them, nor are they involved in strategy development or sloganeering. During the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government’s mandate, these were the Uttar Pradesh police officers who were responsible for restoring peace and order. Criminals were not only imprisoned and confrontations were held, but Havans were also performed at the police station to calm Hindus’ fears of the system. Local merchants have gained confidence in the administration thanks to these individuals, who have fought to restore locals’ faith in the system.
This isn’t only the situation in Kairana. People are sharing stories of bureaucrats like Dinesh Kumar P, Vidyasagar Mishra, Akash Tomar, and Krishna Kumar Gurjar with zeal in other regions of western Uttar Pradesh as well.
Improving law and order everywhere
The improvement in law and order provides the BJP an advantage over its opponents in all of western Uttar Pradesh’s seats, including Kairana. Other issues pale in comparison to the work done on this front by the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government. The paper equations appear to be falling to the ground.
The owner of Amit Sweets of Kairana says, “If you live in peace, you will be able to fight inflation. Will fight the disease. While there’s life there’s hope.” Trilochan Singh of Dhari village in Gangoh assembly constituency says, “The BJP is on our side. Hooliganism is over in this government. Earlier there was hooliganism. Animals got stolen every now and then. They also used to beat up in the night by entering the house. People used to take out the motor from the field. The hooliganism is over now.” Murtaza Qureshi of Muslim-dominated Deoband says, “Law-and-order is the best in this government. BJP MLAs don’t discriminate between Hindu and Muslim.”
SP government’s “Gangsterism“
Some occurrences in Kairana provide insight into the level of hooliganism that existed under the previous SP government’s tenure. Hindus were compelled to move as a result of these events. Furkan shot and killed businessman Vinod Singhal in broad daylight on August 16, 2014. Rajendra alias Raju and Shankar, business brothers, were killed at their store in Bhare Bazaar on August 24, 2014. This shop’s shutters are still down. Only a few meters separate the circle police officer’s office and police station from where his store stood in Kairana. The shop of Vinod is located at Kairana Main Market. Varun Singhal, his brother, is now working in this store.
Kairana is no longer afraid of Akhilesh Raj
“The two miscreants here were renowned,” Anil Kumar Gupta, head of Kairana Vyapar Mandal, told OpIndia. “Furkan is one, while Mukeem Kala is the other. Three shopkeepers were slained within a week for refusing to pay the extortion. A murder took place just 5-7 stores ahead of here. The situation has now improved, and the migrants have returned,” he said.
“When we used to go to complain, the officials used to say we’ll see,” Gupta recalls when asked if the government listened to the traders at the time. “However, nothing actually happened. We used to believe that nothing was changing since the SP government was sitting on the throne above us. The police and administration are still the same. Why is it now working? There hasn’t been an extortion incidence for a long time. Nobody disturbs anyone anymore. Everyone seems to be in positive spirits. Previously, when traders closed their shops, there were occurrences of snatching their bags, which included their money and accounts. Such occurrences are no longer common. Many villages were reluctant to venture out at night earlier. People are no longer afraid to come. The traders were so terrified at the moment that they all wanted to close the business as quickly as possible and get home safely. There is no longer any worry, and we are able to close our stores on time.” he added.
“Terror had intensified in Kairana,” Gupta replies when asked about other electoral topics. “People in this town used to argue that even if everyone had to eat at the same time, law and order should be better. It’s gotten better. People want the last vestige of bullying to be eradicated. Even now, the most critical concern for the people here is law and order.” he added.
The careless SP Government
The Yogi government has received accolades from both merchants and ordinary Kairana residents for improving the law-and-order situation. “The crucial thing that has happened here is that the thefts, dacoities, and scams that used to happen have diminished a lot today,” says Qasim Ali of Fatehpur village. “Anyone can now come and go at any time during the night. In this government, there were no issues. It had grown impossible to simply leave the house here under previous regimes. There was no one to hear. When the individual attempted to meet an officer, he was unable to do so,” adds Ali. “Law and order is the biggest concern here,” Dharampal states when asked what other issues are significant here besides law-and-order.
Why is Mriganka Singh evaluated strong?
Mriganka Singh has tried her hand at politics twice, but both times she has come up short. After defeating her in the 2017 assembly elections, SP’s Nahid Hasan was elected MLA. However, Mriganka’s position this time is thought to be stronger than both prior times due to the Yogi government’s work on the law-and-order front.
“The situation in Kairana has been great since 2017,” Mriganka Singh told OpIndia. “Yogi ji’s zero-tolerance approach on crime has enthralled the locals.” Yogi Raj, according to her, is Ram Raj. Mriganka is the daughter of Hukum Singh, a well-known local personality who passed away recently. As a member of Parliament, he has raised the issue of Hindu exodus.
Nahid Hasan on the mercy of Muslim votes
In the region, Samajwadi Party’s Nahid Hassan’s family has political influence. There are also a slew of severe claims leveled against them. After submitting election papers, Nahid Hasan, who was charged under the Gangster Act, was sentenced to prison. They’ve played it into a propaganda problem for them. In his absence, his sister Iqra, who is in charge of the election campaign, is constantly attempting to transmit the notion that her family is being targeted because they are Muslims. She hopes to avert the divide in Muslim voters by doing so.
BJP is winning Kairana?
The Kairana assembly seat has a total of 318294 voters. Around 1.37 lakh of them are Muslims. The essence of SP’s politics revolves around it. However, as the law-and-order situation improves, this vote bank appears to be disintegrating. This is why, this time, the mathematics is stacked in favor of Mriganka Singh. However, it is also true that Nahid’s imprisonment is a subject of discussion among Muslims. As a result, the outcome will be determined by whether Nahid Hasan can rally individuals who have been left out of his conventional vote bank right before the poll.
Note: This report was originally published in Hindi. You can read it here.
