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Journalism of Courage
BSP leaders Ganga Charan Rajpoot and Sri Ram Pal filed their nomination papers for the bypoll to fill two Rajya Sabha seats from UP on Wednesday,the last day for filing nominations. Since the BSP is assured of victory on both seats,no other candidates filed their nominations. The BSP nominees,both from Bundelkhand,are likely to be declared elected after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations on Saturday.
The vacancies were caused by the election of BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi to the Lok Sabha from Varanasi and the resignation of Samajwadi Party leader Banwari Lal Kanchchal who joined the BSP just before the Lok Sabha elections.
Rajpoot,famous for his suicide threat outside 10,Janpath when Sonia Gandhi turned down the Prime Minister’s post in 2004,is a known turncoat of the UP politics. He joined the BSP just before the Lok Sabha elections but lost from Pilibhit. Pal,on the other hand,has been associated with the BSP since Kanshi Ram’s time. He later joined the SP but returned to the party a few months ago.
Rajpoot is a Lodh,an OBC,while Sri Ram Pal belongs to the backward Pal community. Their nomination fits in with the Mayawati’s efforts to win over non-Yadav OBCs and the backwards after her party’s unimpressive show in the Lok Sabha elections.
