Baghpat, located on the eastern bank of river Yamuna in western Uttar Pradesh, goes to
polls on Thursday. This “Land of the Tiger” is expected to witness the most
significant impact of the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance among
the constituencies choosing their representatives for the Uttar Pradesh
Assembly in the very first phase.

Located in what is
often called the “Jat belt” of Uttar Pradesh, Baghpat is one of the centres of
farmer-led politics.

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As such, Baghpat was among those areas in western Uttar
Pradesh that saw an immense response during the farmers’ protests  against the
three controversial agriculture laws that raged from September 2020 to when the laws were revoked in November 2021.

The laws sought to give private companies a greater role in India’s farm economy.

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Once dominated by Kaukab
Hameed Khan, Baghpat has seen political headwinds change quickly over the last
few years. In the 2012 Assembly elections in Baghpat, the Bahujan Samaj Party’s
Hemlata Chaudhary was elected MLA.

Chaudhary won the
polls with 34.54% of the vote while Kaukab Hameed Khan, of the Rashtriya Lok
Dal, came in second and Samajwadi Party’s Sahab Singh came in third. The
Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, was fifth in the race.

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In the very next Assembly
elections, in 2017, Yogesh Dhama of the BJP surged to victory with 46.83% of
the vote. Ahmad Hameed, son of Kaukab Hameed Khan, representing the BSP came in
second while Kartar Singh Badhana of the RLD came in third.

The wider Baghpat
region which makes up the Lok Sabha constituency was represented by former
Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh from 1977 to 1984. His son, Chaudhary
Ajit Singh, represented the region from 1989 to 1977.

Uttar Pradesh goes to
polls in seven phases starting February 10. Results will be announced on March
10.