Mainpuri LS bypoll: BJP candidate Shakya to file papers today
AGRA : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for Mainpuri Lok Sabha (SP) bypoll Raghuraj Singh Shakya will file his nomination papers on Wednesday. Etawah-based Shakya (54) will face Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Dimple Yadav whose father-in-law and SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav’s death last month caused the bypoll to the seat.
Shakya, who switched to the BJP earlier this year, has been a two-time MP (1999, 2004) and one-time MLA (2012) from Etawah on the SP ticket.
Former minister in the Mulayam Singh Yadav cabinet and now a political analyst CP Rai opines that by fielding Shakya, the BJP has made it a tough contest for the SP which had faced losses in byelection to Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats earlier.
“There are no reasons left for the Samajwadi Party and its leader Akhilesh Yadav to take this byelection lightly. With the BJP leaving no stone unturned and having an ex-SP man as its candidate, there is no time to relax for the Samajwadi Party in Mainpuri,” Rai said.
Meanwhile, Shakya is reported to have met CM Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow on Tuesday.
Out of 17 lakh voters, Yadavs are dominant in Mainpuri parliamentary seat having 4.30 lakh voters followed by 2.90 lakh Shakya voters and 1.80 lakh Dalit voters.
Also, there are 2 lakh Thakur, 1 lakh Vaishya and 1.20 lakh Brahmin and 60,000 Muslim voters here.