March 11 Phulpur bypoll an acid test for UP’s deputy CM Maurya Constituency has 22,000 new voters
It will be a battle of prestige for UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya when the Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency goes to polls on March 11.
Having won Phulpur with a margin of over three lakh votes in 2014, Maurya had announced that it was the first time that the ‘lotus’ (BJP’s poll symbol) had bloomed in a constituency that remained a Congress bastion for long. The feat propelled his fortunes and he was appointed the state unit chief of the BJP. Maurya proved his mettle again in the 2017 assembly election when the party bagged its best-ever tally of 324 seats.
He was rewarded with the post of deputy chief minister.
“Having risen in stature from a grassroots leader to a prominent position in the party, Maurya will now have to prove that it was not just Modi magic but his own charm too that helped the party come to power in the state,” said political analyst and vice-chancellor of the Uttar Pradesh Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UPRTOU), Allahabad, professor MP Dubey.
“He needs to fire on all cylinders to ensure a win for his party
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at a time when the Opposition seems to be closing ranks,” he added.
Aware of the challenge, Maurya is leaving no stone unturned to repeat the feat.
District media in charge of BJP Pawan Srivatava said the parliamentary constituency had been divided into 227 sectors by the party for better penetration at the grassroots level.
“Senior party leaders have been camping in the constituency from February 1. They are holding meeting at sector and booth level, apprising the electorate about the party’s achievements. Senior leaders are also likely to visit the constituency for canvassing,” he said.
A district unit office-bearer of the BJP said the candidate would be named within a day or two and nominations would be filed between February 13 and 20.
“Maurya will arrive here on Monday and meet the electorate for a couple of days. The most probable names of candidates include the deputy CM’s wife Rajkumari Maurya, orthopaedic surgeon Dr UB Yadav and Dr Vikram Patel, son of a BJP MLA from Fatehpur,” he said.
An eight-page folder projecting the works that Maurya carried out as Phulpur MP is being circulated in the parliamentary constituency.
Once a Congress bastion and the parliamentary constituency of the country’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru, Phulpur came into the limelight in the 2014 Lok Sabha election when it was wrested by the BJP.
The Election Commission’s notification for Lok Sabha by-election has put Phulpur in focus once again. With the polling date set for March 11, preparations for the election have gathered momentum. According to district electoral officials, the final list of eligible voters for the five assembly constituencies falling under Phulpur has been published which shows an increase of 22,205 voters.
Phulpur Lok Sabha seat includes five assembly segments of Phaphamau, Soraon (SC), Phulpur, Allahabad West and Allahabad North. When the BJP formed the government in UP, Maurya was named deputy CM. Within days of being elected unopposed to the state legislative council, Maurya resigned as Phulpur MP on September 21, 2017, necessitating the bypoll.
K SANDEEP KUMAR
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