Policemen from Yadav and Muslim communities have been excluded from poll duty in Mainpuri Lok Sabha by-poll scheduled on December 5. There is not a single policeman from Yadav and Muslim communities among 300 policemen sent from Etah district for the Mainpuri by-poll. Four police inspectors – three from the Yadav community and one Muslim – heading four police stations in Jaswantnagar assembly seat forming part of the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, have been sent on “forced leave” till the bypoll is over.
Akhilesh Tripathi & Syed Khalique Ahmed
LUCKNOW/DELHI—It is for the first time in the history of Independent India that policemen on election duty have been deployed based on their caste.
This is happening in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha by-poll scheduled on December 5 in which Dimple Yadav, wife of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, is the chief contender. BJP candidate is Raghuraj Singh Shakya, who currently is a BJP MLA from Etah assembly seat.
The by-poll has been necessitated after the death of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav who had won the seat in 2019. Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat has always elected SP candidates since 1996.
Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi has expressed surprise over it. “This is very serious. This should not happen,” he said when asked by India Tomorrow over the phone.
Out of 300 policemen sent on poll duty from the neighbouring Etah district, there is not even one from the Yadav or the Muslim community.
And this is all happening under the direct watch of the Election Commission of India, which claims itself to be an independent body. This puts a question mark on the independence of the poll body.
A list of about 300 policemen available with India Tomorrow shows the castes of policemen against their names who have been sent on law-and-order duty for Manipuri Lok Sabha by-elections. All these policemen are from the Etah district.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Etah district, who prepared the list with a separate column of the caste entered against the names of each policeman, has also sent copies of the list to election officials of the Etah district as per administrative protocol. SSP’s letter says that the police force was being sent for Mainpuri by-elections in compliance with the November 17, 2022, letter of the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Agra Zone.
Former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi, when asked about highlighting the caste of policemen sent on poll duty, said, “This is very serious. This is not allowed. This is shocking.”
A perusal of the list indicates that there is not a single policeman from the Yadav or the Muslim community.
Yadav, Muslims Police Inspectors Sent on “forced leave”
Meanwhile, election officials overseeing the Mainpuri Lok Sabha by-poll have sent four police inspectors of Jaswantnagar assembly constituency on ‘forced leave’. While three of them are from the Yadav community, one happens to be from the Muslim community.
Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat consists of four assembly constituencies: Jaswantnagar from Etawah district, Mainpuri, Kishni, Bhogaon and Karhal from Mainpuri district. Shivpal Yadav, an uncle of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav represents Jaswantnagar’s seat in the state assembly and Akhilesh himself is an MLA from Karhal seat. Kishni also has a SP MLA while Mainpuri and Bhagaon have BJP MLAs.
Political analysts say that Jaswantnagar seat is Yadav-dominated and BJP feels that it cannot win with station house officers (SHOs) on poll duty from the Yadav and Muslim communities who are considered to be upright. Analysts say that this is also the reason for excluding policemen on poll duty from Yadav and Muslim communities.
SP national secretary Rajendra Chaudhary has complained to Chief Election Commissioner and demanded that the leave of the police inspectors be cancelled with immediate effect and they be brought back on duty at their respective police stations where they were posted. He also demanded an impartial and fearless election. He asked ECI to ensure that BJP was not able misuse the state machinery for by-poll.
Chaudhary expressed shock over exlcuding policemen from Yadav and Muslim communities on poll duty. Chaudhary said that BJP leaders feared that they would not be able to misuse the police personnel from the two communities and hence, they had kept them out from poll duty. However, he said that it was for the ECI to ensure that there was representation of policemen from all communities on law and order duty.
