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Journalism of Courage
The BJP on Saturday announced candidates for 51 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, leaving 27 seats the party had contested in 2019 of which it had won 19. BJP ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) had contested the remaining two seats — Mirzapur and Robertsganj — and won both.
With these two seats still missing from the list, there is an indication that the Anupriya Patel-led Apna Dal (S) is likely to recontest from here.
Among the 27 seats where candidates have not been announced, a notable seat is Kaiserganj, which is currently represented by BJP’s Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The party on Saturday announced candidates for seats adjoining the constituency, including Barabanki, Faizabad, Gonda and Shrawasti, but skipped Kaiserganj.
Last year, there was a nationwide uproar over the sexual harassment allegations levelled against Brij Bhushan by women wrestlers. Two FIRs had been registered against him — one based on a complaint by six woman wrestlers and the other on a complaint by a minor, also a wrestler, and her father.
In Rae Bareli, a high-profile seat where the BJP top brass is buying time to mull over candidate after senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi decided to take the Rajya Sabha route to Parliament, sources say the party is looking for a strong candidate to increase the winning prospects.
BJP insiders say Samajwadi Party MLA Manoj Pandey, who cross-voted in support of BJP in Rajya Sabha elections in UP, may be fielded from Rae Bareli.
The BJP is yet to announce candidate from Baghpat, which was won by party’s Satyapal Singh in 2014 and 2019. Sources say the seat may be given to its new ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).
Jayant Chaudhary-led RLD had supported BJP candidates in the Rajya Sabha polls.
“But by fielding Union Minister Sanjeev Kumar Balyan from Muzaffarnagar, BJP has sent out a message that it will maintain its own Jat leaders’ influence in the western UP and won’t depend on RLD for Jat votes,” said a BJP leader.
Balyan had defeated RLD founder Ajit Singh by 6,526 votes in 2019. BJP has again fielded Hema Malini from Mathura, another Jat-dominated seat. Bijnor is another seat that RLD is likely to get in the seat-sharing arrangement. BJP has also not announced any candidate from Mainpuri, an SP bastion that BJP never won.
Ghosi and Ghazipur, where BJP had lost against BSP in 2019, is also not on the list as ally Suheldeo Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) is likely to get one of these seats.
Two more seats are surprisingly missing from the list — Pilibhit and Sultanpur. Eight-term MP Maneka Sanjay Gandhi is sitting MP from Sultanpur and her son Varun Gandhi — a three-term MP — represents Pilibhit.
BJP has also not announced candidates from SP bastion Badaun where Sanghamitra Maurya, daughter of former SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya, is sitting MP. The remaining seats where candidates are yet to be announced include Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Firozabad, Bareilly, Kanpur, Kaushambi, Phulpur, Allahabad, Bahraich, Deoria, Ballia, Machchlishar and Bhadohi.
