Kairana, 21 January 2022: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will take part in a political program in Uttar Pradesh for the first time after the announcement of the dates for the assembly elections.

Amit Shah will campaign from door to door in support of the BJP candidate in western UP’s Kairana constituency on Saturday. Shah, who is playing a key role in the party’s campaign in the politically important state, will also hold meetings with party workers in Shamli and Baghpat. Thereafter he will interact with eminent citizens in Meerut.

Why is Kairana election important for BJP?

Amit Shah’s choice of Kairana as his first program in UP assumes significance as BJP leaders alleged in the 2017 assembly elections that a large number of Hindus were expelled from the region due to threats following the 2013 Muzaffarpur riots. They were allegedly forced to flee. In fact, the exodus of Hindu families in western UP, especially in Kairana town of Shamli district adjoining Meerut, has been a sensitive issue due to the alleged fear of Muslims. Shamli and Muzaffarnagar districts have more than 40 percent Muslim population.

Veteran BJP leader and then prominent Gujjar leader Hukum Singh had also raised the issue of exodus of Hindus from Kairana during the last 2017 assembly elections.

Both Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister Amit Shah have spoken a lot on this issue. However, despite the issue of exodus of Hindus, in 2017 from Kairana seat, SP candidate Nahid Hasan managed to win a big victory. Whereas BJP candidate Mriganka Singh came second. Once again BJP has given ticket to Mriganka Singh. In such a situation, it is being said that Amit Shah can again raise the issue of exodus of Hindus in his election campaign.

The command of the political feud came on the women members of the two families.

Nahid Hasan was once again nominated by Samajwadi Party from Kairana but he was arrested a day after filing his nomination papers. With this arrest, the command of the long-running political tussle here has fallen on the women members of the two families. Nahid, a two-time MLA from Kairana, is standing by his sister Iqra Hassan, who has come from Europe and says she is ready to take any responsibility in place of her brother.

On the other hand, Mriganka Singh, the eldest of the four daughters of the late BJP leader and three-time MLA from Kairana, Hukum Singh, is in the fray. 34-year-old Nahid has been arrested under the Gangster Act. His bail plea was rejected by a court on Tuesday.

Mriganka’s eyes on father’s legacy

Mriganka is now making her third attempt to take over her father’s legacy. Hukum Singh started his political career with Congress in 1974, when he won the Kairana assembly seat for the first time. He won the seat again twice, once on a Janata Party (Secular) ticket. He joined the BJP in 1995 and represented the Kairana seat four times. He lost the 2009 general election, but was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014.