Saharanpur, named
after saint Shah Haroon Chishti, is set to be the site of a pitched political
battle on Monday, February 14. The administrative headquarter of Saharanpur
district, the constituency is voting in the second phase of polls for Uttar
Pradesh’s 403-seat Assembly elections. A hotspot of UP politics, Saharanpur is
set to witness a quadrangular battle with the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) trying to score.

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In 2017, Masood
Akhtar, representing the Congress, won with 37.08% of the vote. He was closely
followed by BSP’s Jagpal Singh. BJP’s Manoj Choudhary came out third in the race.

However, the
politics of Saharanpur has changed significantly since. Masood Akhtar quit the
Congress in the hopes of a Samajwadi Party ticket in the run-up to the polls.
But the Akhilesh Yadav-led party denied him a ticket dashing the hopes of the
59-year-old.  

Meanwhile, Jagpal
Singh, the runner-up in the 2017 polls has moved out of the BSP and will be
representing the BJP in the 2022 elections.

The Congress is
fielding Sandeep Rana for the Saharanpur seat. The SP and Congress had fought
the 2017 polls in alliance, but this time the Samajwadi Party is back in the
fray with Aashu Malik. The BSP, the party which came second in the 2017 polls,
is being represented by Ajab Singh Chaudhary.

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Saharanpur made
national headlines in 2014, months after the deadly Muzaffarnagar riots, when
violence broke out over a piece of land between certain members of Muslim and
Sikh communities. At least three people were killed in the violence and 33
injured, according to media reports of the time.

However, in 2020,
a truce was reached between the two communities when the matter reached the
Supreme Court after Muslims gave up their claim over the disputed land as a
gesture of gratitude towards Sikhs for the help offered by the community during
the northeast Delhi riots in February 2020, according to a report in The Wire.

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Elections in Uttar
Pradesh often see a stirring of communal passions, and this year has been no
different. The Saharanpur Assembly constituency, with its large Muslim
population, is one of the constituencies that just might have a significant
influence on the results. Muslims make up nearly 41% of the population of
Saharanpur district and 19% of the population of Uttar Pradesh. 

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Uttar Pradesh is
going to polls in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. Results will be
declared on March 10. The first phase of polls, comprising 58 Assembly
constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh, saw over 60% voter turnout.