The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
As Rajput anger against BJP simmers in west UP, Maya, Akhilesh sense a chance
BJP has no Thakur candidate from 8 constituencies in region that go to polls on Apr 26
With discontentment against the BJP simmering in the Kshatriya community in west UP over the lack of tickets for leaders from the community, the SP and the BSP have sensed an opportunity to deal the ruling party a blow in the region and have reached out to the upper-caste community.
At a rallying ha zia bad sunday, BSP chief Mayawati accused the BJP of ignoring the Kshatriya — also the Rajput or Thakur — community and saying her party has ensured representation to all communities in ticket distribution. The BSP’S Ghaziabad candidate is N and ki sh or pu dir, at ha k ur, while its Baghpat candidate is Praveen Bans al, who is ag ur jar, a community categorised a san O BC.
“The Kshatriya community's numbers among the upper caste in UP is very high. It is disheartening to see that BJP and other parties, who claim to be supportive of the Kshatriyas, have ignored them, especially in west UP. In Ghaziabad, we have fielded a Kshatriya candidate. Earlier, we gave the ticket to a Punjabi candidate but later we realised that their population is high in Lakhimpur Kheri. So, we have given the ticket there to a Punjabi Sikh candidate,” Mayawati said.
The party initially fielded Kaushambi-based businessman Anshay Kalra from Ghaziabad. Later, the party gave Pundir the Ghaziabad ticket while Kalra was moved to the Kheri LS seat.
Mayawati said she welcomes the decision of the Kshatriya community’s mahapanchayats to support the party that fields the most Thakur candidates.
Her comments came two days after SP president Akhilesh Yadav recognised Kshatriyas present at his rally in Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) by their turbans. “I am seeing honour and pagdi (turban) on the heads. Those who had been traditionally voting for some other party, I am grateful for their political awareness this time that they are going to support ‘bicycle (SP symbol)’ with honour and pagdi,” he said.
Sp’ s ga uta mbuddhn agar district secretary Hem ant Raghav, a Kshatriya, said, “The people with pagdi in the audience were
Kshatriya and Akhilesh Yadav ji recognised their presence. They are going to support the SP this time because they are upset with the BJP that has insulted and neglected in this election,” he said, adding that the party had sensed the “anti-bjp sentiment” among Th a ku rs .“th esp held 2‘ ks hatri ya sammelans’ and a panchayat of Th ak ur sing au tam buddhn agar .”
The SP has fielded a Gurjar candidate, Dr Mahendra Singh Nagar, from Gautam Buddh Nagar. The BJP candidate is sitting MP Mahesh Sharma who is a Brahmin, and the BSP nominee is Rajendra Singh Solanki from Kshatriya community. Solanki said there are almost 4.5 lakh Kshatriya votes in the seat and the BSP was making an effort to connect with them.
In the 8 seats of west UP that voted last Friday, BJP gave a ticket to only one Thakur candidate. Kunwar Sarvesh Singh was in the fray from Moradabad but passed away Saturday. Of the eight more constituencies in the region going to polls on April 26, there are no Th ak ur candidates in the fray from the BJP. Among these candidates, two are Brahmins, two are Vaishyas, one is a Gurjar, and one is a Jat. The biggest Rajput leader who was dropped by the party was former General V KS ingh who represented Ghaziabad in the outgoing Lok Sabha.
“The party is aware of the simmering discontentment among the Kshatriya voters,” said a BJP leader in Gautam Buddh Nagar. “Dr Mahesh Sharma ji is touring the villages of Kshatriya voters. The BJP here has two Thakur MLAS — Pankaj Singh from Noida and Dhirendra Singh from Jewar — and both have been deployed to work among Thakur voters.”
Earlier this month, PM Narendra Modi held a roadshow in Ghaziabad and was accompanied by UP CM Yogi Adityanath who is a Thakur. The BJP has also organised a rally by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Ghaziabad.