Ghosi winner Sudhakar Singh’s big leap into spotlight: SP grassroots worker to giant-killer

Sudhakar started his political innings from his student days and was elected as the president of the student union of a college in Ghosi. After completing his post-graduation in social science from Gorakhpur University, he contested his first Assembly election from the Nathupur seat as an Independent in 1989 and lost despite getting 23.17 per cent votes. He contested the 1991 election from the seat on the Janata Party ticket but lost again.

Subsequently, Sudhakar joined the SP and contested the Nathupur seat in the 1996 election on its ticket, winning this time by defeating the BSP candidate.

In 2002, Sudhakar contested from the adjoining Ghosi seat as the SP nominee but lost against the BJP’s Phagu Chauhan. The SP did not give him a ticket in 2007, but the party candidate fielded as his replacement lost the election too.

The SP then again nominated Sudhakar as its candidate in the 2012 Assembly poll, when he won the seat by defeating Phagu Chauhan, who had then contested as the BSP candidate, and strongman Mukhtar Ansari, who had fought as a candidate of his outfit Quami Ekta Dal (QED).

Sudhakar lost the election in 2017 against Phagu, who had contested on the BJP ticket again. He got the opportunity to contest after just two years when Phagu vacated the seat following his appointment as the Governor of Bihar.

Subsequently, a bypoll was held in which Sudhakar fought as an Independent with the SP support. He had to contest as an Independent candidate because of the delay in issuance of the SP’s authorisation letter to him. He lost the election with a margin of 1,773 votes, even as

the BJP’s 30-year-old worker and nominee Vijay Kumar Rajbhar emerged as the winner.

Sudhakar was in the race of ticket from Ghosi in the 2022 Assembly polls too, but the party leadership trusted Dara Singh Chauhan with it, who had then quit the BJP and Yogi Adityanath Cabinet to join the SP. Dara was elected as the MLA from Madhuban seat on the BSP symbol in 2017, but shifted to Ghosi apprehending “anti-incumbency” in his constituency. He won from Ghosi as an SP candidate.

“Sudhakar had been denied a ticket by the SP several times but he respected the decisions of the party leadership and continued working for the party. But in 2022, he was upset with the party’s decision and opposed Dara Singh Chauhan in that election. Still Dara won with support of Yadav, Muslim and Rajbhar votes,” said an SP leader from Ghosi. But that created a “sympathy” in Sudhakar’s favour, which worked for him in the current contest against Dara in the bypoll.

Although Akhilesh Yadav usually refrains from campaigning in bypolls, he addressed a rally for Sudhakar in the Ghosi bypoll. Also, following Akhilesh’s suggestion, senior party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav camped in the constituency during the entire campaign period.

Despite a long career as a grassroots SP activist, Sudhakar never got any position in the party’s state and national units so far. The SP’s Mau district president Dudhnath Yadav said that Sudhakar was the party district president in Mau many years ago.

According to local SP leaders, Sudhakar was an “obvious choice” for the Ghosi people in the bypoll as compared to Dara. Sudhakar is a Ghosi resident and is always accessible to locals for any help. Despite being a leader belonging to the upper caste, he reaches out to Dalits and OBCs, they say. “His availability and connect with people helped him win against a high-profile candidate of the ruling BJP,” said a party leader.

According to his election nomination affidavit, Sudhakar’s livelihood depends on farm income and the “loktantra senani” pension.

His resounding win in Ghosi has come as a boost not only to the SP but also the Opposition parties’ INDIA alliance. It was the first election in UP since the formation of the INDIA bloc, and apart from the SP ally RLD, the Congress too had extended support to Sudhakar as part of the grouping’s understanding.