Bengal’s Mamata strikes Cong in UP,poaches farmer leader

“They never stood by me while I was raising local issues. They never backed me up when the Mayawati Government,and even Railways,slapped cases on me for an incident where I was not even present. If I am a criminal in their eyes,then I have no business to be part of their party or contest on their ticket,” Singh told The Indian Express. He said that he had told the same to senior Congress leaders before leaving the party.

Singh informed that apart from contesting from Barkhera,he would also contest from Palia seat in Lakhimpur Khiri against the Congress candidate there. After Singh refused to contest on the Congress ticket,the party had fielded Joginder Singh from Barkhera. Congress has fielded Vinod Tiwari from the Palia Assembly seat.

“We have offered our support to strengthen the base of Trinamool Congress at least in the Terai Belt. We have been raising issues of farmers and have been fighting for their cause in the similar manner as Trinamool has been doing in West Bengal.” Singh told The Indian Express. He said that apart from his own constituencies,he would also tour about 15 other Assembly constituencies in the Terai Belt of the state.

Singh is uncle to BJP MP Varun Gandhi and had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections against Varun from Pilibhit on a Congress ticket but had lost. VM Singh was the one who had filed a petition against Varun after 2009 Assembly polls and sought quashing of Varun’s election for his alleged “communal speech”. After he had refused to contest on the Congress ticket,senior party leaders,including Digvijay Singh,had tried to persuade him that his issues would be addressed.

Singh informed that Trinamool has promised to take up the farmers’ agenda in UP.