PEOPLE WILL VOTE FOR ISSUES, NOT FACE: JAYANT CHAUDHARY

MATHURA: Fighting a hard battle, sitting MP Jayant Chaudhary admits that his rival and yesteryear Bollywood dreamgirl Hema Malini comes with a star appeal but claims his relationship with the constituency is real and people will choose issues over face.

The 35-year-old Rashtriya Lok Dal leader and son of party chief Ajit Singh, who has been extensively campaigning in Mathura and seven other constituencies where RLD candidates are fighting elections, dismisses talk of anti-incumbency against him.

“Serious politics needs serious people, not faces. It is not easy, it is not role playing. You have to open your heart and stay in the middle of your people...It is not that you can wear a mask and repeat a few dialogues and the public will come with you,” Chaudhary said, taking a dig at the his main rival from the BJP who campaigned for him in the last elections when the BJP and RLD were together.

When asked whether pitting Hema Malini against him would hurt his chances, Chaudhary asserted that his performance in Parliament was far better than what his rival did in the Rajya Sabha. The MP has been accused by BJP and other rival parties of not keeping in touch with his constituency, a claim he denies.

“It is not true that I did not visit my constituency. I have been to many villages but there are 17 lakh voters and 2,300 villages in Mathura and it is impossible to go everywhere. I took my job in Parliament seriously,” he said.

According to Chaudhary, the bigger challenge in front of him is to grow his party’s base in UP and other states. He also denied that the “so called Modi wave” was going to affect his party.

SERIOUS POLITICS NEEDS SERIOUS PEOPLE, NOT FACES. IT IS NOT EASY. YOU HAVE TO OPEN YOUR HEART AND STAY IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR PEOPLE...IT IS NOT THAT YOU CAN WEAR A MASK AND REPEAT A FEW DIALOGUES AND THE PUBLIC WILL COME TO YOU

JAYANT CHAUDHARY, RLD leader