Lucknow: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has purportedly failed to have strongman and MLA from Uttar Pradesh’s Kunda constituency, Raghuraj Pratap Singh — popularly known as ‘Raja Bhaiya’ — by its side in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. The bahubali’s declaration to his supporters that they are free to vote for the candidate of their choice is likely to play spoilsport for the BJP in at least two constituencies — Kaushambi and Pratapgarh.
Singh’s supporters have openly campaigned for the Samajwadi Party candidate Pushpendra Saroj in Kaushambi, and are also set to extend support to the party’s Pratapgarh candidate, S.P. Singh Patel. This is in sharp contrast to the 2022 assembly polls, when the strongman’s supporters attended the public meetings of BJP candidates in Pratapgarh.
Miffed about the open challenge by Kaushambi’s incumbent MP and BJP candidate Vinod Sonkar to their leader, Singh’s supporters have been sharing old statements made by him about the upper caste communities, including the Kshatriyas, Brahmins and Vaishyas.
At a rally last week, where Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya was in attendance, Sonkar had remarked that the assembly seats of “Kunda and Babaganj were also open for the BJP” now, and Maurya had suggested that “lotus would bloom there too”.
Both Kunda and Babaganj’s MLAs are from Raghuraj Pratap Singh’s Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik). While Singh himself is a seven time-MLA from Kunda, his party’s Vinod Saroj represents Babaganj in the state assembly.
Sonkar’s remarks came days after he, along with Union minister Sanjeev Balyan, met Singh at his residence in Benti to seek his support. While Singh publicly acknowledged that candidates of both BJP and Samajwadi Party had come to meet him, he made it clear that his supporters were free to vote for whoever they wanted, ruling out any inclination, at least publicly, towards either of the parties.
In an interview with The Lallantop, Raghuraj Pratap Singh admitted that his equation with SP and its chief Akhilesh Yadav had improved significantly. He also withdrew a 2019 defamation case that he had filed against SP’s Indrajeet Saroj, whose son Pushpendra Saroj is in the fray in Kaushambi. The latter had reached out to Singh for support.
Sonkar’s comments have agitated Singh’s supporters, who have been sharing old videos of Sonkar on social media, where he can be heard making controversial remarks about upper caste communities.
In the video being circulated on social media platforms, the Kaushambi MP can be heard saying that Khatik is the “only community which chose to rear pigs instead of converting themselves”, while Thakurs, Brahmins and Vaishyas “converted”. The clip is purportedly from a public meeting in Varanasi during the 2022 UP state assembly polls.
यहीं हैं #कौशाम्बी सांसद का वह पुराना वीडियो, जिसमें उन्होंने अपनी जाति को वीर वा अन्य जातियों को #मुग़ल का वंशज बोला था।
बाबूसहब ~पठान
पंडित ~सैय्यद
वैश्य ~ अंसारी
और एक बात यह #बहुजन_समाजपार्टी से आयातित हुए थे 2014 में ।
क्या बोलते हों #मुगलपुतो बीजेपी जिंदाबाद। pic.twitter.com/DsQiOY7sHv
— Dheeraj Thakur (@PRATAPBISEN14) May 16, 2024
Another statement made by one of Sonkar’s supporters, calling Baniyas (Vaishyas) “latkhor (addict)” in his presence, added to his troubles. The incident angered many within the BJP and the Baniya vote bank in the constituency.
माननीय श्री @AmitShah @narendramodi @JPNadda @rajnathsingh जी ऐसे बयान देने वाले नेताओं वह जनप्रतिनिधि को पार्टी से निकाल देना चाहिए!
क्योंकी जिम्मेदार पद पर रहते हुए ऐसी भाषा का प्रयोग करना बहुत ही निंदनीय यह अपने आप को समझते क्या@BJPVinodSonkar pic.twitter.com/GahlC4vF6t
— 🚩 BJP समर्थक लक्ष्य 2047🚩( मोदी का परीवार ) (@kattarbjp11) May 8, 2024
Sonkar had tendered a public apology last month during a prabuddha jan sammelan, saying that he was not casteist.
“If I have made any mistake in the past ten years, if my words have hurt someone… Let the prabuddha jan be my witness. I apologise to you with folded hands because that was not my intention. Those who know me are aware that I am neither casteist nor a dynast. I am not corrupt, only pro-development,” he said at the event, where Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak was also present.
However, the apology may have done little to help the MP in Kaushambi, where Raghuraj Pratap Singh’s supporters are openly canvassing for SP’s Pushpendra Saroj.
Slogans of “Raja Bhaiya zindabad, Akhilesh Yadav zindabad,” were heard at Saroj’s public meetings Friday, as Singh’s men campaigned for Saroj.
ये कौशांबी से समाजवादी पार्टी के प्रत्याशी पुष्पेंद्र सरोज जी है ,राजा भैया की पार्टी जनसत्ता दल ने उन्हें समर्थन कर दिया है साथ ही उन्होंने जनसत्ता दल का गमछा भी पहन लिया है।
जनसत्ता दल के नेता ,कार्यकर्ता उनके लिए प्रचार भी कर रहे है।
अगर यूपी में एक बार फिर राजा भैया और… pic.twitter.com/4u3OKn9Zyn
— Shivam Yadav (@ShivamYadavjii) May 18, 2024
An aide of Singh, however, told ThePrint, “Our supporters are free to vote for whoever they wish. Our leader has made it clear that we are not in the fray this time, neither are we in alliance with anyone. But our supporters are independent. They are divided. Some are supporting SP, others are supporting BJP.”
He added, “It is true that our supporters are hurt due to the statements made by some NDA leaders.”
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BJP’s Pratapgarh problem
Kaushambi went to polls Monday, but the ‘Raja Bhaiya’ factor continues to bother the BJP in the Pratapgarh Lok Sabha constituency, which votes on 25 May. His supporters are irked by Union minister and Apna Dal (Sonelal) chief Anupriya Patel’s remarks. Patel had said in a rally Saturday that the time had come to end the dominance of “self-declared kings”.
“Self-declared kings think that Kunda is their fiefdom, the time has come to end their misconception. In a democracy, kings take birth from the EVM button, not from the wombs of queens,” she remarked.
A day later, Raghuraj Pratap Singh retaliated and said, without naming Patel, “EVM gives birth, not to kings, but to public servants and public representatives. If those taking birth from EVMs start considering themselves kings, the essence of democracy will end.”
“Public gives you a chance to serve them by pressing the EVM button. Rajatantra (monarchy) has been gone too long now. There are some frustrated people who talk about it. I have never made any personal comments on anyone,” he told media Sunday.
Speaking to reporters Monday, after voting in Kunda, he remarked that the incumbent BJP MP Sonkar was facing anti-incumbency, and added that people were turning up to vote in big numbers.
Singh’s people are now planning to bat for not just the SP candidate in Pratapgarh, but also for Anupriya Patel’s rival in Mirzapur, JD(L) sources told ThePrint.
“This statement was totally uncalled for. Our supporters are deeply hurt, and they have decided that no one will support the BJP candidate in Pratapgarh. Unlike what you saw in the assembly polls, our supporters won’t participate in BJP’s rallies there,” Singh’s aide said.
Dinesh Tiwari, JD(L) youth cell president in Pratapgarh, told ThePrint that the unit had called an emergency meeting Monday, where they may publicly announce their support for the SP candidate, S.P. Singh Patel, who is pitted against BJP’s sitting MP Sangam Lal Gupta.
Another member of the party’s Pratapgarh unit told ThePrint that after the completion of the sixth phase of polls, the party workers will leave for Mirzapur and campaign against Anupriya.
Having fielded a candidate from the Kurmi community, SP is hoping to consolidate the Muslim-Yadav-Kurmi voter base there.
“If Kshatriyas and Brahmins, too, are galvanised in our favour, it will make our candidate’s road smoother in Pratapgarh,” said a leader of SP’s Pratapgarh unit.
SP’s Chief Spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary told ThePrint that a section of the community is unhappy over the remarks made by BJP leaders, and said that this will likely hurt BJP’s chances.
Meanwhile, after Anupriya targetted the “kings of Kunda,” a senior leader of her party resigned over objectionable comments against the Kshatriya and Brahmin communities by her party’s sitting Robertsganj MP, Pakauri Lal Kol, whose daughter-in-law Rinki Kol is the Apna Dal (S) candidate for the constituency this time.
Raghvendra Pratap Singh, the party’s national general secretary resigned Sunday.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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