BJP fields Union min from Alwar seat with an eye on Yadav votes
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Union minister of forest and environment Bhupendra Yadav from Alwar for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
With this, the party continued its two-decade old tradition of fielding outsiders in the Alwar parliamentary constituency. Yadav hails from Haryana. Prior to this Mahant Chand Nath and Mahant Balak Nath who too did not belong to Alwar.
According to political analyst Hari Shankar Goyal, Yadav’s candidature from Alwar can be attributed to the large Yadav population in the district. The Yadav community in the constituency usually votes in unison and this trend came to light for the first time in 1971 Lok Sabha elections when a relatively unknown Sumitra Devi Yadav, sister of Rao Veerendra Singh of Vishal Haryana Party fought from Alwar, and stood second only to Dr. Hari Prasad Sharma of Congress. “Out of 18 Lok Sabha elections conducted so far, 10 times a Yadav candidate, either from Congress or BJP, has emerged victorious from Alwar, added Goyal.
The trend of fielding Haryana candidates in Alwar began in 2004, when Mahant Chand Nath belonging to Astal Bohar Math
in Rohtak (Haryana), contested the Lok Sabha elections from Alwar on a BJP ticket, but lost to Dr Karan Singh Yadav, contesting from Congress side. Later he became an MLA from Behror and in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he became an MP from Alwar after defeating Congress candidate Jitendra Singh.
After Chand Nath’s demise, Mahant Balak Nath hailing from the same Matth, fought the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and became an MP from Alwar.
Although, Bhupendra had been visiting Alwar previously, his political influence is close to none, especially in comparison to Mahant Chand Nath or Balak Nath, said the political analyst.
“Erstwhile MLA Ramhet Yadav and current MLA from Alwar City Sanjay Sharma used to share a good camaraderie with Bhupendra Yadav by the virtue of starting their political journey at similar times, however, now it is apparent that the equation among them is not absolutely fine,” said Goyal.