Imran Masood hate speech: Saharanpur polarised?

Saharanpur: Congress candidate Imran Masood, who was arrested last week over a hate speech against BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, was granted bail today.

Mr Masood has three other cases against him, including attempt to murder. But is his statement bringing him flak, or increasing his winnability? And is this election one of the most polarising ones in the recent history of India? NDTV travels to Saharanpur to find out.

A small town in western Uttar Pradesh, Saharanpur is world famous for its wood carving industry. Every item made here is sold in cities like Delhi, for at least three times the price. Artisans here are mostly Muslims.

But here the talk isn't about business. As we approach a group of people, deep in discussion, an artisan says, "by threatening Modi, Masood has become a hero".

Regardless of the condemnation in political circles in Delhi and on social media of his hate speech, Imran Masood is not so hated by his vote-bank.

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His chances of winning seem to have doubled since he was sent to judicial custody for it. The people here say, this ensures his victory. "This will increase his votes, god willing, all Muslims will vote one way this time", says another shopkeeper.

Even though not everyone here agrees with what Mr Masood said, they admit he will garner votes. Perhaps explaining why Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi would take the risk of campaigning for him.

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The Samajwadi Party traditionally relies on the Muslim-Yadav vote bank but on the heels of the Muzzafarnagar riots their vote is not guaranteed.

As the crowd chants pro-Masood slogans, we head for Rampur, Maniharan, Mayawati's bastion. The Scheduled Caste are her Bahujan Samaj Party's traditional voters, but in the Centre they say, they prefer being Hindus first. One local here says, 42 per cent population in Saharanpur is Muslim, it is likely to be a close fight. The emerging trends reflect, how deeply and easily is this election polarised.

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