By Nirendra Dev
The BJP is gearing for an intense fight in Azamgarh parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh even as the Samajwadi Party is likely to field none other than party chief Akhilesh Yadav from the seat.
BJP sources in Delhi and Varanasi say that for the saffron party putting up a good show in Azamgarh remains a major challenge as in 2014 despite winning as many as 71 Lok Sabha seats from the state the party lost the seat to the SP.
In 2014, BJP nominee Ramakant Yadav lost the seat to Samajwadi Party stalwart Mulayam Singh Yadav by a margin of 63,204 votes.
In third place, BSP candidate Shah Alam won a total of 2,66,528 votes.
Ramakant Yadav, contesting on a BJP ticket, had won the seat in 2009. He had received a total number of 2,47,648 comprising 35.13 per cent of the total valid votes of 7,04,863. The victory margin in his case was 49,039.
The BSP’s candidate Akbar Ahmad Dumpy collected a total of 1,98,609 votes which was 28.18 per cent of the total valid votes.
The major issues, which are generally highlighted in elections in Azamgarh, are general infrastructure problems of the district, lack of basic amenities, religion and caste based politics.
Incidentally, Ramakant Yadav had won the seat in 1999 as the Samajwadi Party candidate. “We have reports Akhilesh Yadav will contest from Azamgarh this time and Mulayam Singh Yadav will be going back to Mainpuri….Hence we are gearing up for a good contest,” a BJP source said in Varanasi.
The governments – both at the Centre and under Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh – have lately undertaken a few developmental projects in Azamgarh region and among these Purvanchal Expressway was highlighted in a big way. The BJP has also tried to project that essentially Purvanchal Expressway as a BJP endeavour.
However, in the past, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had accused the saffron party of giving ‘spin’ and trying to “steal credit” for the Purvanchal Expressway as he claimed that the project was finalised during his tenure as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party sources in Varanasi have said that after BSP-Samajwadi Party alliance, the seat would be “safe” and thus Akhilesh Singh Yadav ensured of an easy victory here, can focus on election campaigning.
“Samajwadi Party has drawn out ambitious plans for Lok Sabha polls this year. Besides Uttar Pradesh, we are planning major expansion outside Uttar Pradesh like in Maharashtra, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Samajwadi will field candidates also in West Bengal and talks are on with Trinamool Congress on those lines,” a source told UNI.
Samajwadi Party may field party chief’s wife Dimple Yadav from Kannauj, according to a source though final decision is yet to be taken.
BJP sources have sought to dismiss the ‘hype’ about SP-BSP alliance and its impact in eastern Uttar Pradesh. “Samajwadi Party has lost its support base in Azamgarh and also in eastern UP. No amount of political games and alliance will help now. Samajwadi Party had tried such methods during 2017 assembly polls in understanding with the Congress, but there was no result and we swept the region,” a BJP leader said.
The electoral contest in eastern Uttar Pradesh would be very interesting this time as Congress also has announced entry of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as its party in-charge for eastern Uttar Pradesh. (UNI)
