Satpal Raizada: One gym at a time, Cong Una Sadar candidate builds political muscle

“I told the DC: Doonga main apani zeb se (I’ll pay from my own pocket). I kept my word and gave the boys Rs 2.5 lakh,” says Raizada.

The matter did not end there. After a few days, a few more boys from another village visited him with another request for a gym, followed by another request from a different village. Himself a health freak — he goes to a gym and does cycling as well — he heaved a sigh of relief when the code of conduct was implemented in 2017. By that time, he had already spent Rs 65-70 lakh on opening 25-30 gyms in his constituency. “Prashasan ya sarkar ne koi madad nahin ki. Sab kuchh khud kiya (Administration or government did not render any help. I did everything myself).”

As for the gym grants, they came from the riches he had accumulated abroad. “Meri mali halat achchhi nahin thi. Yeh sara paisa main saat samandar paar se kama ke laya tha (My financial condition was not good. I earned this entire money overseas),” says the MLA.

Raizada’s efforts yielded a rich political dividend in the form of victory in the 2017 Assembly elections. He soon devised a method to his madness. “Mere paas vidhyak nidhi aa gayi (I got MLA fund). Then whosoever approached me with a request for a gym, I told them to get a resolution passed by the panchayat first.”

The MLA claims that during his tenure he has set up around 12 gyms, each with proper infrastructure and each costing around Rs 14-15 lakh. He also upgraded the old ones.

The 53-year-old, who used to play hockey during his school days, has studied up to class 10 and worked in the construction line in England for eight years. Mention new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his eyes light up. “They are broad-minded (people). Can you believe I partook of langar at a gurdwara situated on the premises of a church there? Can it happen in India?”

While his father worked in Saudi Arabia in the mechanical line, he chose to go to England. Likewise, his family is associated with the BJP, but he decided to join the Congress as “religion has no space in politics”.

A fan of Aamir Khan — he liked PK more than Ghajini — he literally fought his way to the Assembly and has been embroiled in a couple of controversies. “There was an RTO (regional transport officer). He was indulging in corruption. He was harassing truck and auto drivers. EK din maine usko dauda-dauda ke mara (One day, I thrashed him as he ran). It was in 2014, I guess. I had to go to jail. But all the truck and auto drivers, cutting across party lines, supported me.”

Then, in 2018, he had an angry argument with Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri on stage while their supporters had a face-off in the audience.

Now, things have calmed down and Raizada has mellowed down. The MLA not only knows how to flex his muscles, he also knows how to shake hands with his political rivals. Standing for re-election, the Congress legislator filed his nomination on October 21. He led a huge procession to the election office at Una which brought the traffic to a standstill as his supporters carried him on their shoulders. Incidentally, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur was passing by that side and got stuck in the jam. As soon as Raizada came to know about it, he jumped down, went to the minister, and shook hands with him, in the process asking his supporters to make way for the minister.