In 1997, Member of Parliament Mulayam Singh Yadav drew attention to rising incidents of communal violence against Muslims in Uttar Pradesh. At that time, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati was the chief minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party. “We have never heard of an incident like Dilerganj in history. The girls in the age group of 8-8, 14-14, 16-16 years were stripped, 31 houses of Muslims were torched in Pratapgarh. ..This is the first example in the world …she was cremated in Allahabad instead of Pratapgarh or Dilerganj and no enquiry has been conducted in this regard (sic),” Yadav had said. Dilerganj is a village in the town of Kunda in UP’s Pratapgarh district. The ‘Dilerganj massacre’ of 1995, as the incident came to be known, was one of the first sensational incidents associated with the local MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh, who went on to evoke epithets like ‘Kunda ka Gunda,’ ‘Robin Hood’. ‘criminal politician’ .‘don’ and ‘Bāhubali.’ This incident, which is seen as marking the beginning of the ‘criminal’ antecedents of Raja Bhaiya’s politics, also highlights a less pronounced feature; the communalisation of politics in Kunda. From 1993 onwards, Kunwar Raghuraj Pratap Singh (or Raja Bhaiya as he is popularly known) has won every single election to the Kunda assembly constituency as an independent candidate. When the BJP swept the last assembly polls in 2017, Raja Bhaiya trounced his nearest rival from the saffron party by more than one lakh votes. This time though, as Kunda goes to polls on February 27, Raja Bhaiya faces a formidable challenge. After voting for the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha election in 2018, the Kunda MLA fell into disfavour with Akhilesh Yadav, bringing to a close their almost three-decade association which saw Raja Bhaiya occupying cabinet berths under the Samajwadi Party (SP) government and the withdrawal of serious criminal charges against him. The SP has fielded local strongman Gulshan Yadav, with proven influence in municipal elections over the last decade. Also read: UP Polls: In Loni, BJP MLA Gurjar Calls for ‘Hindu Unity’, Ramps Up Communal RhetoricThe making of a precarious Hindutva constituencyDuring Raja Bhaiya’s tenure, Kunda has witnessed communal flare ups from time to time. In 2012, when Raja Bhaiya was part of the SP government in the state, 46 houses belonging to the Ansari community were burnt down in Asthan village over the alleged gangrape of a Dalit girl. In 2013, Raja Bhaiya faced charges of being involved in the sensational killing of circle officer, DSP Zia-ul-Haq, who was investigating the Asthan violence. For several years, now on the day of Muharram festivities, Raja Bhaiya’s father and well-known Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) member, Uday Pratap Singh, calls for the organisation of a bhandārā at a Hanuman temple, flaring to communal tensions. Raja Bhaiya, his father and other associates have often had to be put under house arrest to prevent violence. Raja Bhaiya’s silence on such occasions has been seen by the sizeable Muslim population of Kunda as tacit support for his father’s communal actions, which results in electoral benefits for the former. At a recent lecture, Raja Bhaiya iterated his stand on the idea of a Hindutva nation, saying, “Bharat aur Hindutva ek doosre ke paryaya hain (India and Hindutva are synonymous)”. People in Kunda, indeed, often assert, “Woh hinduon ke hit mein kaam karte hain’ (He works in the interest of Hindu). I have come across many people in the constituency, mostly from the upper castes but some from the OBC community too, who claimed that while they were staunch supporters of the BJP at the state and national level, they voted for Raja Bhaiya and wished for an alliance between him and the BJP rather than SP. It was not surprising, then, that Raja Bhaiya launched his election campaign from Ayodhya after the darshan of ‘Ram Lalla.’ His party, the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik, founded by him in 2018, opposes caste based reservations and aspects of the SC-ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, though in the campaign for the 2022 elections, the party does not seem to be highlighting these issues. The party aims to contest on 100 seats.Logistics of dominanceWhile it is true that Raja Bhaiya’s projection as a Hindu figure has enabled him to win support in a constituency which comprises an overwhelming majority of OBC and SC castes, along with Brahmins and Banias, the near total control that he has so far enjoyed in Kunda has taken a lot more assiduous effort. At one level, this has been enabled by Raja Bhaiya’s massive interventions in local municipal and panchayat politics. An association with Raja Bhaiya helps candidates hoping to win seats in gram/kshetra/zila panchayats, the nagar panchayats, block development council and kotedars (those running fair price shops) to get support, while it enables him to exercise control over political and economic life in the constituency. Then, in assembly elections, all these functionaries are expected to return the favour by mobilising votes for him. For long time observers of politics in Kunda, the involvement of Raja Bhaiya with the local state institutions cannot be over-emphasised. It is this network which enables him to conduct and fund ‘saamoohik vivaah’ (mass wedding) ceremonies and free health check-up camps. The fact that Raja Bhaiya hails from a taluqdāri (big landowners and revenue collectors for the British) background with roots in Kunda helps his perception as ‘hamaare apne’ (one’s own) in the constituency. In his own words, his frequent durbārs with his constituents to resolve disputes regarding police complaints and the like and providing them with speedy resolutions are the most important reasons for his relevance and popularity. It saves poor people from long-drawn and expensive government procedures. It is not uncommon to see people from other constituencies as well come for Raja Bhaiya’s durbār for help. There is also an appeal attached to Raja Bhaiya as a symbol of power which has won him admirers in the constituency. However, what has contributed the most to Raja Bhaiya’s almost unchallenged political dominance is the fact that no political party has mounted any serious organisational challenge so far, in terms of building their local organisation, putting up strong local candidates and running a robust campaign. This is largely owing to the fact that Raja Bhaiya has managed almost always managed to strike an alliance with the ruling party in the state and is seen to have good relations with politicians across party lines. In 1997, 1999 and 2000, he served as a minister in the BJP governments. In 2003 and 2012, he had a cabinet berth in the governments run by the SP. This is the reason why significant sections of the Muslims who have a sizeable population in the constituency have voted for Raja Bhaiya, who has been the only viable choice against the BJP.Akhilesh Yadav with Raja Bhaiya in 2018. Photo: Twitter/yadavakhilesh.The only challenge came from the Mayawati-led BSP governments in 2002 and 2009, when he was put in prison and faced serious charges under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, dacoity, murder and more. While Mayawati’s actions punctured Raja Bhaiya’s larger-than-life image, the BSP did not proactively build an organisation in Kunda. Most parties end up fielding weak candidates with little local standing in the election and don’t follow them up with any aggressive campaigning.Also read: If Rahul Gandhi Were Really Irrelevant, the BJP Wouldn’t Need to Attack Him SoNew claimants to powerUntil 2018, it was be hard to spot a political poster or hoarding in Kunda which belonged to any party except those supporting Raja Bhaiya. However, times have changed. Plenty of hoardings of Raja Bhaiya’s main adversary, Gulshan Yadav of the SP, as well as those belonging to the BJP can now be seen. It has been two decades since the SP has fielded its own candidate in the constituency. Gulshan Yadav began his political career as a small-time strongman facing allegations of many petty and serious crimes. In 2012, he was elected as the Nagar Panchayat chairman, with Raja Bhaiya’s support. While he was chairman, Yadav’s influence kept growing, as did his ambition, regularly placing him at odds with Raja Bhaiya’s other associates.In the 2017 urban local body polls, when Raja Bhaiya was supporting SP, tensions between Gulshan Yadav’s supporters were palpable, though not publicly acknowledged. It was understood that Raja Bhaiya was not backing the candidature of Gulshan’s wife, Seema Yadav, for the post of Nagar Panchayat chairman. Yet, Seema Yadav won the election. After the falling out between Raja Bhaiya and the SP in 2018, the hostilities brewing between the local SP unit and the MLA were brought out in the open. Raja Bhaiya is said to have made overtures to the SP in the run up to this election which were rebuffed by party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Gulshan Yadav is understood to have support in several pockets of the town, though not in the constituency as a whole. The BJP’s candidate, Sindhuja Mishra, could also make inroads into some sections of the Hindutva and Brahmin voters. A Muslim resident of Kunda I talked to in December, 2021, informed me that the Yadavs in the constituency were raring to see Raja Bhaiya dislodged from his position and a significant number of Muslims will also be voting for SP, though one cannot be sure whether this will be sufficient to secure a win.A trade union leader and long time observer of local politics in Kunda told me that he looked forward to the prospect of a tough election, saying the margin of Raja Bhaiya’s victory will be reduced significantly this time round. While elections are shot through with desire and can provoke wild or mild speculation, a social change seems to be afoot in Kunda, in its own messy and tainted way, regardless of the election result.Amitanshu Verma has a PhD in political science from JNU and researched Raja Bhaiya’s politics in Kunda during the course of the programme.
