Rivals ride high on sympathy factor for Handia bypoll

His main rival Pankaj Tripathi of the BSP,too,is seeking sympathy. He is accusing the SP government of giving protection to Vijay Mishra,MLA from Gyanpur,who was an accused in the case of murder of his father Dharnidhar Tripathi in 1980.

Both Pankaj and Prashant are contesting their first Assembly election. Tripathi is nephew of Rakesh Dhar Tripathi,who was minister in the previous Mayawati government.

“During the campaign,I told people about the murder of my father,and illegal acts of Vijay Mishra and other criminal elements who are getting protection from the SP government,” said Tripathi,an MBBS degree holder who left medical practice in 2010 when BSP chief Mayawati offered to field him in the mayor’s election in Allahabad. However,the seat was later reserved for women.

After three years,Tripathi has once again started carrying medicines in his car because people,who know that he is a doctor,ask for these when he goes to villages to appeal for votes.

“I prescribe medicines to at least 15 patients every day. I cannot avoid them during the election campaign,” Tripathi said. Most of his patients have complaints like diarrhoea,fever,eye infection. “But I cannot help people much with free medicines because two cameramen of the Election Commission are doing videography of my campaign and expenditure,” Tripathi said.

Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Swami Prasad Maurya and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Naseemuddin Siddiqui have been campaigning for Tripathi for a fortnight.

Tripathi’s main fight is against SP candidate Prashant,who is the youngest (26 years) of the 13 candidates. Prashant,a law graduate from Dehradun,was not available for comment,but SP’s Allahabad district president Pandhari Yadav said,“Prashant is getting huge sympathy of the public following the death of his father who worked a lot for development of Handia. He is young and he is getting good response from public.”

Prashant is seeking votes also by highlighting the SP government’s “achievements” like distribution of free laptops,Kanya Vidya Dhan,unemployment allowance,free ambulance service and free irrigation facility to farmers. Cabinet ministers Shivpal Yadav and Azam Khan have campaigned for Prashant.

The state government has been ensuring 18-hour power supply in Handia since the by-election was announced. The BSP,BJP and Congress candidates are asking the people to not get influenced by the increased power supply because it will not continue after the election is over.

BJP candidate Vidyakant Tiwari alias Sanwre said that power crisis,law and order and the government’s attempts to withdraw cases against terror suspects were the issues for him.

Union Ministers Salman Khurshid and Beni Prasad Verma have campaigned for Congress candidate Amrit Lal Bind,who is banking on the more than 1 lakh Bind and Nishad voters in the electorate of 3.27 lakh.