When the people of Faridpur village in the Sardhana Assembly constituency complained to the police last week that the election campaign vehicle of Sangeet Som, BJP MLA, was “showing” Muzaffarnagar riot clips, it raised eyebrows. The public display of anger against Mr. Som would have been impossible in the days after the 2013 riots that made him a “Hindutva hero”.

Five years ago, Mr. Som won the seat with less than 20% of the votes — out of 3.5 lakh votes, he had got just 62,000. But his popularity is on the vane.

“Not much development work has happened in this area. You can see it for yourself. Roads are in a bad shape,” says Bharat Singh, a Dalit from Faridpur. Mr. Singh is rooting for Imran Quraishi, the BSP candidate, whose father, Yaqoob Quraishi, gained international notoriety when he declared a reward of Rs. 51 crore for anyone who would kill the Danish cartoonist who drew cartoons of the Mohammed. In 2012, Mr. Quraishi, as a Rashtriya Lok Dal candidate, got 48,000 votes to come second behind Mr. Som.

Split votes

The irony, according to Mr. Singh, is that Sardhana has a large Muslim population with 85,000 votes, followed by Dalits with 60,000. “Sangeet Som won not because of communal polarisation but because of a division of Muslim votes among the RLD, the SP and the BSP. Dalits are completely with Behenji [BSP supremo Mayawati] and the vote will go to Imran ji . We also hope that he gets Muslim votes because only he is in a condition to defeat the BJP,” he added.

Sardhana also has a sizeable number of Thakurs, Gujjars and Jats. Atul Pradhan, a Gujjar and Mr. Som’s arch-rival, is the SP candidate. He came third in 2012 with 45,000 votes. He is eyeing the Muslim votes, in addition to the support of his own community which has 42,000 votes.

Muslim residents of Falavda village in the constituency say the communal polarisation is an unspoken reality and will influence outcomes. While a large number of Jat farmers were critical of the BJP for demonetisation, Vikas Saini, in his early thirties, pointed to the pro-Muslim policies of the Akhilesh Yadav government and his “anti-Hindu” role during the Muzaffarnagar riots.

Haunted by riots

Most members of the minority community were scared that “despite everything Som might end up winning.” A large number of them want to vote for BSP candidate but were still unclear who the entire community was rooting for. Some like Abdul Mutee, were apprehensive of “last minute communal polarisation among the majority Hindus which would ensure Som's vistory.”

A few kilometres away from Falavda, Mr. Som’s campaign had a predictable and palpable communal tone. While talking to The Hindu , the MLA was clear that he represented Hindus. “I am a Hindu and a proud Hindu. I am against politics of appeasement of one particular community and every time I speak against that, I am branded communal,” said Mr. Som, who was charge-sheeted for provoking the communal riots in and around Muzaffarnagar in 2013. He is out on bail.

Given the BSP’s challange, Mr. Som is not taking anything lightly. His supporters and campaign manager, however, are hopeful of a division in the Muslim votes.