Raghuraj to announce his outfit today

LUCKNOW: Independent MLA from Kunda assembly seat in Pratapgarh district, Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya, will announce the launch of a political outfit, Jansatta party in a rally organised on Ramabai Ambedkar ground, on Friday.

Singh also plans a show of strength by mobilising supporters across the state. He has booked a train from Pratapgarh to transport people from his home district to the rally ground. He plans to raise the issue of Amendment of SC-ST Act and reservation in order to woo the upper caste and Muslim community.

Raja Bhaiyya has always been an independent MLA, winning the Kunda seat in 1993, 1996, 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017. The rally will mark his 25 years in politics.

He took the decision to form a new party reportedly after he sought views of people from 25 districts on whether he should continue to contest as an Independent, join some party formally or form his own party.

“Having good support among the Thakur and the Rajput voters, Raja Bhaiya could get support of the swarn or upper castes from various belts. SP’s sidelined leader Shivpal Singh Yadav formed a separate party and now Raja Bhaiya forming his own party could cut into the vote bank of the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP and end up benefiting the BJP,” said political analyst and GB Pant Social Science Institute director Prof Badri Narayan.