Family backed Cong,he is BSPs young Rajput in J&K

A fortnight ago,as a crowd of hundreds waited under the scorching sun for BSP chief Mayawati to turn up.

A fortnight ago,as a crowd of hundreds waited under the scorching sun for BSP chief Mayawati to turn up,a young man took over the dais and began addressing them. And the crowd,which was getting restless after having to wait for over two hours,listened with attention.

I have joined the BSP as this is the party which even talks about the poor men among the upper caste people, said Rakesh Wazir,the BSPs young face in Jammu and Kashmir.

While his winning chances are grim,the Rajput candidate is expected to make a dent into the vote bank of the BJP and Congress in the Udhampur Lok Sabha seat,which will go to polls on April 23. Wazir is pitted against the BJPs Nirmal Singh,Congresss Lal Singh,Panther Partys Prof Bhim Singh and PDPs Balwan Singh. Interestingly,all these candidates lost the 2008 Assembly elections,giving hope to Wazir,who is contesting polls for the first time.

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His family members have traditionally been Congress supporters. My grandmother Nirmala Wazir was a Congress MLA and my uncle,Bansi Lal,was the MLA from Reasi. But that didnt stop me from going to the BSP, he says. If the role of the Congress was dubious in tackling the Amarnath agitation,the BJP divided the people in the name of religion during the agitation, he adds.

Apart from his latest role as a politician,Wazir is also known here for his links with Bollywood. A hotelier,he would often arrange film shooting for producers. And whenever actors dropped by for a pilgrimage,he would be seen accompanying them.

As vice-president of the Hotel Association in Katra,I got the service charge waived off on the hotel industry and I also got property tax concessions for the industry. If we are able to boost the tourism industry,we can tackle the unemployment to a large extent, says Wazir,who is also advisor,India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC).

Wazir is among the five candidates fielded by the BSP in the state. While his party offers reservation to the poor among upper castes,Wazir promises reservation for local youth in both government and private sectors. To the people in the areas under Udhampur constituency,he says that he will remove all discrimination. From Salal Dam,power is supplied to all other states,but local areas in its vicinity suffer,as they have no electricity. There are many villages which are only one-and-a-half kilometre from the dam site but are without electricity, he says.

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I have a mission in joining politics. I have to work for peoples welfare,helping them find solutions to their daily problems, he concludes.

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