Bahu-beti ke samman mein Kapil Dev maidan mein (for the honour of your daughter in-law and daughter, Kapil Dev is in the fray), says BJP's banner in support of its candidate in the assembly bypoll to be held here on February 13.

MUZAFFARNAGAR: Bahu-beti ke samman mein Kapil Dev maidan mein (for the honour of your daughter in-law and daughter, Kapil Dev is in the fray), says BJP's banner in support of its candidate in the assembly bypoll to be held here on February 13.

Elsewhere, as crowds mill around, there is talk by volunteers of "rampant eveteasing" and "love jihad".

The byelection in Muzaffarnagar, which both Samajwadi Party and BJP hope to win, became necessary after the death of sitting SP MLA Chitaranjan Swarup. Following the riots of 2013 that left 62 dead and over 50,000 homeless, this dusty belt of Uttar Pradesh has not been the same. One can find many of those who lost their homes still wandering for a permanent place to live -angry, bitter and despondent. The town itself is still divided, with fear and distrust running high on both sides.

BJP's MP, Sanjeev Baliyan, one of the accused in the riots, is hopeful the party will do well. "If the SP candidate wins, all our good work of the last two years will be washed away," he said on Wednesday . "It will leave the impression that we were wrong and SP was right," he added, hinting at the riots. At a campaign meeting in Kookda, he tells a gathering that they will now have to choose "between right and wrong". Balyan does not openly talk about the communal tension, highlighting the development work he has initiated as Union minister. But other BJP members are not so circumspect. Vitriol about a "specific community" always finds mention. "It is about the honour of our daughters. Kapil Dev's victory will ensure that our daughters will be able to roam freely on city roads. So many gang rapes have taken place and we know who the perpetrators are," said party leader Umesh Malik.

Muzaffarnagar has in the recent past reported a string of rapes and gang rapes, with some rightwing leaders threatening to hold mahapanchayats if the accused are not caught and charged under the stringent NSA.

Malik goes back time and again to the 2013 riots and praises Balyan for his "aggressive stand" during the violence. However, when TOI later asked Balyan about the party slogan, he played it down. "In the last couple of weeks, there has been an enormous increase in the number of rapes, therefore the slogans," he said.

Meanwhile, candidate Kapil Dev Agarwal quipped: "It has nothing to do with a specific community. The party has reposed faith in me and I will toe the party line."

SP's nominee for the contest, Gaurav Swarup, dismisses the threat. "Voters have seen through BJP's `divide and rule' politics," he announced to a motley bunch of people waiting for him at a village chaupal. "The public suffered during the 2013 riots. Now they are smart enough and will discard BJP."

