One other Gandhi wages battle 100km off Rae Bareli, a lonely one | India Information
SULTANPUR: In Sultanpur, 100 kilometres to the east of Congress bastion Rae Bareli, one other Gandhi has entered the ballot fray once more, eyeing a document ninth time period in Lok Sabha. BJP MP and former Union minister Maneka Gandhi, 67, sometimes called ‘chhoti bahu’, started her political journey 4 many years in the past by contesting in opposition to her brother-in-law and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in Amethi in 1984.Maneka, who changed her son Varun in 2019 and managed to win Sultanpur seat by round 14,500 votes, is up in opposition to a formidable opposition this time.
Given the current historical past the place her son was denied a ticket this time following his outbursts in opposition to his personal social gathering on and off, Maneka has many battles to wage this time. And it’s a reasonably lonely battle for her.
The social gathering brass, together with PM Narendra Modi and residential minister Amit Shah, hasn’t campaigned within the constituency but. UP CM Yogi Adityanath addressed a rally on Wednesday. UP minister and Nishad Get together chief Sanjay Nishad although has campaigned for Maneka to consolidate the Nishad group which has a large presence within the constituency.
Different outstanding electoral teams embrace Kurmis, Yadavs, Muslims and Dalits. The constituency additionally has a major variety of Brahmins and Thakurs.
Congress-backed Samajwadi Get together candidate Rambhual Nishad is claimed to have a great assist base. Nishad, a two-term MLA from Gorakhpur rural seat, contested the final Lok Sabha polls from Gorakhpur as an SP candidate however misplaced to BJP’s Ravi Kishan by greater than 3 lakh votes.
Nishad, although thought-about as an outsider, is usually seen mobilising ground-level assist for himself, particularly among the many Nishad group.
“The election is being contested by the PDA (pichhda or backward, Dalit, alpsankhyak or minority). This can be a struggle for the rights of farmers, youth and girls,” stated Sohail Ahmad Siddiqui, vice-president of Sultanpur SP Lohia Vahini, an organisation related to SP within the district. The social gathering has by no means received the Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat.
“The ballot battle is evenly poised right here. The issues of backward and minority communities haven’t been addressed for years,” stated Mohammad Shehzad, who runs a brick kiln in Aamkol village. Locals cite the consolidation of OBCs and Muslims behind Nishad as a key electoral issue.
BSP, too, has been flexing its muscle tissue within the constituency by fielding Udraj Verma, a zila panchayat member from Sultanpur, making the competition triangular.
“Verma might show to be a darkish horse in case of a triangular contest because the constituency has a sizeable variety of Kurmis and Dalits,” stated Waqar Ahmad, a BSP functionary within the district.
The constituency is riddled with hyperlocal points round growth of the town and its connectivity with different key centres together with Lucknow, Prayagraj and Ayodhya.
Located on the banks of the Gomti, Sultanpur has its little bit of native vacationer factors, like Dhopap temple related to Ram and Lohramau Devi temple devoted to Durga — each have been craving for a facelift.
Site visitors snarls and law-and-order are the opposite huge points which want consideration. “There may be nonetheless a lot that must be performed right here,” stated Alok Singh who runs a restaurant in Sultanpur Sadar locality. Points like cow slaughter and ‘love jihad’ have additionally incited com munal stress within the area. Just lately too, clashes erupted following hearsay of cow slaughter in Koiripur city, leaving a few individuals injured.
Rural areas within the constituency usually face acute water scarcity, particularly throughout summers. “The government has been talking of the Har Ghar Jal scheme however its implementation is much from actuality,” stated R Ok Kori, a resident of Bhadhara village, which comes beneath Isauli meeting section which was received by Samajwadi Get together’s Mohammad Tahir Khan in 2022.
In 2009, Congress’s Sanjay Sinh, an in depth affiliate of Sanjay Gandhi, received the seat. He defeated BSP’s Mohammad Tahir by round 1 lakh votes. BJP’s Surya Bhan Singh might handle solely 6.24% votes. However in 2014, Varun received, defeating BSP’s Pawan Pandey and SP’s Shakeel Ahmed. Sinh’s second spouse Ameeta who contested as a Congress candidate might muster solely 4.35% votes.
The constituency, nevertheless, noticed anti-incumbency in opposition to Varun, forcing BJP to area Maneka from the seat in 2019.
