Hema banks on Modi factor for hattrick of wins
MATHURA: For cine star and incumbent MP from Mathura, Hema Malini, the scorching sun is not a deterrent these days. She is moving from village to village and locality to locality, campaigning and seeking votes as the BJP’s candidate for a third term in a row.
As she moves, murmurs of her being a ‘Missing MP’ don’t go unnoticed. The opposition is also trying to build a narrative of her being a ‘Pravasi’ (an outsider) who visits only once in a while. ‘Brajwasi versus Pravasi’ is the attack with which Congress-SP alliance candidate Mukesh Dhangar is leading his campaign against her. Hema Malini has been a two-term MP from Mathura since 2014.
In response to the opposition’s
charge, Hema Malini hopes that the Modi factor and the alliance with the Jat-based RJD will seal the deal for her. For her, Modi is the superstar in her electoral campaign. She extensively puts forth the Modi government’s work and seeks votes in
its name. She says, “Aapne BJP ko vote nahin diya to desh mein andhkar ho jayega, andhere se kya fayda?” The contest in Mathura has now reached the farmlands after Hema Malini had photographs taken while harvesting wheat crops in a village. Not to be left behind, Congress candidate Mukesh Dhangar also got down to cutting wheat produce at another farm on Monday.
Dhangar said, “I am a farmer’s son and brought up in the ‘mitti’ (soil) of Braj, thus I can work for hours in the fields.”
“Hema Malini’s presence in the fields was only the act to gain cheap publicity. She should have worked for at least one hour in the field along with me. I would have respected Hema Malini for this. What is the use of such work for a photo opportunity? The voters had to paste posters of the missing BJP candidate after she returned to Mumbai after winning last time,” he added.
Targeting Hema Malini, Anil Yadav, general secretary, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, said, “Such gimmicks are not going to work this time in Mathura because the election this time is becoming ‘Brajwasi versus Pravasi.’ Coming from Mumbai, Hema Malini is a ‘pravasi’ while the Congress candidate is ‘Brajwasi’ (a resident of
Braj). Mathura voters can’t find Hema Malini in crises, but Mukesh Dhangar, a local resident, will be available round the clock.”
“Mukesh Dhangar is a son of the soil, and like Hema ji, he did not spend time in the field for photo opportunities only,” he said.
Though Congress is raking up the outsider issue, they are banking on other backward caste votes, including those of Dhangar (1.25 lakh), Prajapati (80,000), Saini, and Nishad (one lakh), besides the support of the traditional votes of the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance.
BJP leaders, however, rule out any ‘Brajwasi versus Pravasi’ contest in Mathura. BJP’s election in-charge for the Mathura seat, Shyam Bhadoria, said, “Congress is nowhere in the race and was unable to find a suitable candidate and was trying to import one.”