Shah in Rae Bareli for 2nd time in week, welcomes SP rebel

At his rally, Shah slammed the Gandhis saying they considered both constituencies their “family seats”. He claimed the INDIA bloc would put the “Babri lock” on the Ram temple if it came to power and attacked the alliance for “pariwaarvaad (nepotism)”.

The BJP’s Rae Bareli and Amethi candidates, Dinesh Pratap Singh and sitting MP Smriti Irani, were present on the stage. So was MLA Pandey, who is known to have a strong support base among the Brahmin community in the two constituencies. Shah acknowledged his presence at the beginning of the rally and concluded his address saying Pandey had joined the BJP to support “sanatan dharma”.

On May 12, Shah had held a public meeting in Rae Bareli Sadar, the only Assembly segment under the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat that was won by BJP in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections. (The SP won the remaining four segments.) He had also visited Pandey at his home in Rae Bareli, telling him: “Main hoon na (I am there).”

Pandey had defected from SP with other legislators and cross-voted for BJP candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections in February. In March, the Centre accorded him ‘Y’-category security cover.

SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said Friday: “After joining BJP he is no more a member of the Samajwadi Party. He himself should resign from the Assembly membership on moral grounds. The national president will decide on the action to be taken against him.”

Pandey had not been campaigning for the BJP since he had not resigned from the primary membership of the SP to formally join the saffron party. It is learnt that both Irani and Dinesh Pratap Singh wanted the party leadership to announce Pandey’s entry so that he could campaign for them. BJP leaders said this was why Shah landed in Rae Bareli just five days after his previous rally in the area.

While Priyanka has been camping in Rae Bareli and canvassing aggressively, holding more than 10 public meetings every day in support of Rahul, BJP candidate Dinesh Pratap has received little support from the party’s only MLA in the area, Aditi Singh.

Aditi Singh, who has not once campaigned for Dinesh Pratap, had been seen on stage only once — during Shah’s May 12 rally. She was present at the rally on Friday.