Ambedkar Nagar (UP), Mar 2 (PTI) For long considered as the “Dalit laboratory of the BSP”, Mayawati’s party is faced with the daunting task of reclaiming its influence in the five assembly seats of the district after flight of her senior legislators to the Samajwadi Party.
Mayawati, who created the new district of Ambedkar Nagar out of Faizabad (now called Ayodhya) during her tenure as chief minister in 1995, held the sway over the area for long before the SP and BJP started denting her citadel in the last two state polls.
In the 2012 elections, the SP had wrested from the BSP all the five assembly constituencies — Katheri, Akbarpur, Jalalpur, Tanda and Alapur– of Ambedkar Nagar.
However, the equation changed in 2017 when the BJP emerged victorious on two seats and the rest three went to Mayawati.
The five assembly segments of Ambedkar Nagar will go to vote in the sixth phase on March 3.
Mayawati had in the past represented Ambedkar Nagar in the Lok Sabha for six times.
The BSP got a jolt before the polls this time as its senior legislators Lalji Verma and Ram Achal Rajbhar crossed over to the SP and so did its former MP Rakesh Pandey. Now all the three are contesting elections on the bicycle symbol.
While the BSP is saying that exit of “gaddars” (traitors) would not have any effect on the party’s poll prospects, the SP chief has been claiming that Socialists and Ambedkarites have joined hands to uproot the BJP from power in the politically important state this time.
Verma is in the fray from Katehari on SP ticket. He is challenged on the seat by BSP’s Prateek Pandey while the BJP has given the seat to its ally Nishad party which has fielded Avdesh Kumar in the seat. Sitting MLA Ram Achal Rajbhar is contesting on the bicycle symbol from Akbarpur where the BSP has given ticket to Chandra Prakash Verma and BJP has put its bet on Dharamraj Nishad. Former BSP MP from Ambedkar Nagar Rakesh Pandey is Akhilesh Yadav’s party nominee from Jalalpur, won by the BSP last time. He is challenged there by the BSP’s Rajesh Singh and saffron party’s Subhash Rai. Similarly in two others constituencies of Tanda and Alapur, the BJP, SP and BSP are locked in an intense fight. The Congress has also fielded its candidates in these seats in a bid to make the fight multi-cornered. Verma told PTI, “My victory margin will be more as compared to the previous election, and will touch the 25,000 mark.” Asked to comment on issues dominating the poll landscape, Verma spoke about problems faced by farmers, menace of stray cattle, unemployment and price rise. On the BJP fielding Nishad party candidate Avadhesh Kumar, Verma claimed, “Most of the people from different sections of the society are with us. Some may go with him. But most of the voters have shown their inclination towards us. This time, the SP is forming the government in the state, and I have no doubts in this regard. The people have hundred per cent confidence that the SP is going to form the next government in the state.” Subash Chandra Rai, who is contesting on a BJP ticket from Jalalpur assembly constituency, said, “The BJP will sweep the assembly elections in Ambedkar Nagar, and improve its tally by winning all the seats in the district.” Monu Singh, who runs a medicine shop in the district, said, “The electoral contest is very close and intense. All the parties are putting their best foot forward, and are not willing to even give an iota of their vote share to rivals, lest they stand to lose the polls”. “However, with veteran politician Verma joining the SP ahead of the polls, the Samajwadi Party seems to be enjoying an edge over other parties in the district,” Singh said. Bhaskar Singh, a resident of Bhiti area, feels the prospects of the SP are bright in the area. Another local Lavkush Srivastava said the electoral contest seems to be a triangular one involving the SP, BSP and the BJP.
“It is going to be a very close contest, and I cannot see any ‘lehar’ (wave) this time as compared to 2014, 2017 and 2019, when the BJP was a favourite, and it emerged victorious in the state,” he said. There are 13 candidates in the fray each from Alapur and Tanda assembly constituencies, while there are 12 candidates in the election ring each from Akbarpur and Jalalpur. From Katehari assembly constituency, there are 10 candidates in the poll fray. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has attacked both the SP and BSP, accusing them of moving away from the ideology of Ambedkar and socialist Ram Manohar Lohia. PTI NAV SNS DV DV
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