Karhl: Union Minister SP Singh Baghel, who is contesting against SP President Akhilesh Yadav from Karhal seat in Mainpuri, Samajwadi Party’s ‘Citadel’, says that in a democracy, any area is considered to be someone’s ‘stronghold’. Cannot be said because the world has seen Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee losing in their respective forts.
He claimed that the contest for the assembly elections from Karhal seat was not one-sided as a visit to the area shows that the BJP wave was prevailing in the entire assembly constituency. Baghel, who learned politics from SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, also advised Akhilesh to try his luck from a seat in Azamgarh. When asked in a conversation with PTI that the Karhal assembly constituency has always been the SP’s ‘bastion’ and will he change the picture this time, Baghel said, “There is no such thing as a stronghold or a fort in a democracy. We have seen people’s so-called forts collapse in the past.”
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He said, “You have seen Rahul Gandhi losing from Amethi and Mamata Banerjee from West Bengal. Apart from this, Dimple Yadav has lost from Firozabad and Kannauj and in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Akshay Yadav has lost from Firozabad and Dharmendra Yadav has lost from Badaun. Significantly, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi had to face defeat at the hands of Smriti Irani from Amethi, considered the traditional seat of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Apart from this, Mamta Banerjee was defeated in the last assembly elections from Nandigram seat of West Bengal.
Baghel, who is challenging SP chief Akhilesh Yadav as the BJP candidate from Karhal, has been living in BJP leader Govind Bhadoria’s Ghiror house since his nomination on January 31 and has also set up his election office there. He goes out in the morning for his campaign and contacts people till evening. Baghel says that his election campaign is going very well. He said that if someone from Akhilesh’s party tells him about the situation honestly, then the SP president should file his nomination from any seat in Azamgarh.
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Baghel claimed that no one in his party (SP) can say that his victory from Karhal is certain. Baghel, a former sub-inspector of police, who was once the security guard of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, said that if the SP president feels that the contest with Karhal is one-sided, then why is he sending his family members here for election campaign. He claimed that the crowd at his programs in Karhal and the mood of the voters can be understood and it shows that there is a BJP wave going on here, there is no dearth of options before the people after he goes to the polls.
“Akhilesh chose the safest seat for himself out of 403 assembly seats, but he had absolutely no idea that I would contest against him from here,” Baghel said. To a question whether he sees his claim strong in Karhal constituency, which has nearly 40 per cent Yadav voters, the Union minister said, “It means that 60 per cent voters are from other castes. Those whose lands were illegally occupied during the SP regime and then socially scorned and now those who are getting the benefits of the government’s schemes, they will vote for us and we will win.”
Significantly, the number of Yadav voters in Karhal assembly constituency with 3.7 lakh voters is 1.4 lakh. Apart from this, there are 34 thousand Shakya and 14 thousand Muslim voters. The Union minister claimed that his fielding has strengthened the BJP not only in Karhal but also in other seats in Mainpuri district, namely Kishni, Bhogaon and Mainpuri.
Baghel is contesting for the third time against a member of the Mulayam Singh Yadav family. Earlier, in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he had contested against Akhilesh’s wife Dimple Yadav and in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections against Mulayam’s nephew Akshay Yadav from Firozabad seat. He had to face defeat in both these elections. Voting will be held on February 20 under the third phase of state assembly elections in Karhal.