RLD exMLA joins BJP in runup to bypoll
Saheb Singh enjoys considerable influence over Jat and trading community voters in Western UP
LUCKNOW: In a major setback to the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) before the May 28 Kairana Lok Sabha by-election, the party spokesman and former MLA Saheb Singh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday.
Singh is said to enjoy considerable influence over Jat and trading community voters in western UP, once considered a stronghold of the RLD.
Mahendra Nath Pandey, the state BJP president, welcomed Singh into the party fold as local RLD leaders considered close to Singh also joined the party.
The move is seen as an attempt by the BJP to strengthen its position before the by-election. The lone RLD MLA Sahendra Singh has already joined the BJP. Charan Singh Bharti Jatav and Rajnikant Jatav, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leaders from Moradabad district, too joined the BJP on the occasion.
The RLD-SP- BSP alliance plans to repeat the Gorakhpur and Phulpur performance by wresting Kairana from the BJP.
The RLD has fielded Tabassum Hasan for the prestigious seat, which was held by veteran BJP leader Hukum Singh before his death earlier this year.
Senior RLD leaders Ajit Singh and Jayant Chaudhary are banking on the support of Jat, Muslim and Jatav voters to try and defeat Hukum Singh’s daughter Mriganka Singh, who is the BJP candidate.
The BJP, too, is depending on the support of the influential Jat community and trying to make inroad into the the Jatav vote bank, the BSP’s support base.
Senior BJP leaders, including the party’s organisation secretary Sunil Bansal have launched a campaign in the constituency. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath is likely to address a series of public meetings in Kairana and Noorpur, where an assembly by-poll will be held on May 28.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has already announced it will not field candidates in the by-poll and is likely to support the RLD nominee.
The BSP had extended support to the SP in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha by-elections in March, enabling the SP to wrest the two seats from the BJP.
The Gorakhpur and Phulpur seats had fallen vacant after their respective MPs chief minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had resigned on their election to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, BJP candidate Hukum Singh had polled 5,65,071 votes whereas SP candidate Nahid Hasan bagged 3,29,013 votes, BSP’s Kanwar Hasan polled 1,60,262 votes and RLD’s Kartar Singh Bhadana polled 42,657 votes.