Battle for Rampur: Yogi to address public meet

LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath will address a public meeting in Rampur on October 18 in support of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) candidate Bharat Bhusan Gupta.

Riding on the charisma of Yogi, the BJP hopes to challenge the might of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan, whose wife Tazeen Fatima is the candidate from the prestigious seat that has been the stronghold of the SP since decades.

Khan has represented Rampur seat in the legislative assembly for nine terms since 1980.The by-poll was necessitated after Khan’s election to the Lok Sabha in the general election.

The battle of Rampur has become a prestige issue for the SP after 85 cases were lodged against Azam Khan, including land grabbing, dacoity, theft. The SP national president Akhilesh Yadav had visited Rampur to express solidarity with Khan. Also, senior SP leaders are campaigning in Rampur in support of the party candidate.

The SP hopes to cash in on sympathy vote to retain the seat. In the public meetings, the party leaders are highlighting the cases lodged against Khan and his family members.

The BJP has also mobilized its resources to create a history by snatching the seat from SP. The BJP has not ever won Rampur seat that has a large Muslim population.

According to the 2011 census, the Muslims constitute 51% of the population whereas Hindu population is 46% in Rampur.

BJP strategist hopes that division of Muslim votes among the SP, BSP and the Congress might help it to grab the seat. The BSP has fielded Zubair Ahmed and Congress has fielded Arshad Ali Khan.

A meeting of the BJP leaders and office bearers was held on Monday to review the preparation for the by-poll on 11 assembly seats.

BJP state unit vice-president JPS Rathore said chief minister Yogi Adityanath will address public meetings in support of the party candidates on October 15, 16 and 18.

Rathore said, on October 18 Adityanath will address public meetings in Rampur, Iglash (Aligarh) and Gangoh (Sharanpur).

On October 15, he will address public meetings in Govind Nagar (Kanpur), Manikpur (Chitrakoot), Lucknow Cantt and Pratapagrh Sadar. On October 16, Yogi Adityanath will address public meetings in Jaidpur (Barabanki), Jalalpur (Ambedkar Nagar), Balha (Bahraich) and Ghosi (Mau).