With Jitin on dais and Varun absent, Yogi says contest between ‘family first’ and ‘nation first’

Pilibhit will vote in the first phase on April 19. This is the first time in the nearly 35 years that neither Maneka Gandhi nor her son Varun is contesting from Pilibhit. Since 1996, Pilibhit has been sending Maneka Gandhi, the daughter-in-law of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, or her son Varun to Lok Sabha.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Varun had won from Pilibhit by over 2.5 lakh votes. Varun, who last week wrote an open letter to the people of Pilibhit saying his “relationship with Pilibhit was beyond any political calculations”, was conspicuous by his absence from Tuesday’s event.

Adityanath, who did not speak about either Varun or Maneka Gandhi, instead praised Prasada, a minister in his Cabinet who joined the BJP three years ago after quitting Congress.

“Jitin Prasada is easily accessible. He worked for building roads in the district while being the state PWD minister. You can get all your problems resolved by Jitin Prasada in the next five years,” Adityanath said.

Listing various welfare works done in the constituency that falls in the Terai regions, the chief minister said: “By accepting all the proposals of medical college, roads and bridges in Pilibhit, the government has worked to connect it with the new stream of development… Not only this, the government is also working to promote Pilibhit as an excellent destination for eco-tourism. Electric fencing has been done around the farmers’ land lying in the middle of the forest in the constituency to prevent human-wildlife conflict.”

In Badaun, sitting BJP MP Sanghmitra Maurya, who has been dropped by the party, was seen weeping at the CM’s event. The BJP has replaced the daughter of former Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya with Durvijay Singh Shakya, the Braj region chief of BJP. Shakya will be taking on senior Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav.

Later speaking to PTI, Sanghmitra said UP Secondary Education Minister Gulabo Devi, sitting beside her, had narrated a “touching story” from the Ramayana which brought tears. “I am not weak. Sanghmitra Maurya is a very brave woman — a woman who represents half of the population,” she said.

At the Badaun event, Adityanath said with Shakya’s nomination, Shivpal Yadav will be “packing up his bag”. “In his capacity as chief of the Braj region, Durvijay Singh Shakya helped several BJP candidates win elections.

But this time the party has fielded him from here to seek votes for himself,” said Adityanath, reiterating that the BJP has to win all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh so that the party could pass the 400-mark in Parliament.

Claiming that the law and order situation in the state has improved after he became the chief minister in 2017, Adityanath accused the SP-Congress alliance of tarnishing the state’s reputation and instigating chaos.

“These people previously spread anarchy, supported curfews and imposed a ban on the Kanwar Yatras,” Adityanath alleged.

“In their tenure, criminals used to explode bombs at different places. Ab UP mein bomb-baaji nahi, Har Har Bam Bam hoga (Now, in UP there will not be any bomb blasts. Instead, there will be chants of Har Har Bam Bam),” Adityanath said referring to Lord Shiv chant.

“Kanoon vyavastha chust durust, mafia aur apradhi prasth (Law and order is tight and mafia and criminals are in misery). In the state where riots had become the order of day before 2017, in the same state curfews have become a thing of the past,” Adityanath said.

“We need to unite for a new India under Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s leadership. He had carried out those tasks which seemed impossible, including the ban on (instant) triple talaq, the removal of Article 370 and the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya,” Adityanath said.

Badaun was in the news recently after two minor brothers — Ayush (13) and Honey (6) — were killed by a local barber, Sajid (30), at their home, triggering communal tension in the area.

In Bareilly, eight-term MP Santosh Gangwar, who has been dropped to make way for Chatrapal Gangwar, was present at the CM’s event. Exhorting people to elect PM Modi for the third term, Adityanath said there was only one voice in the entire country — “Ek baar phir Modi sarkar”.

“Behind this is Modi ji’s continuous hard work of 10 years. He worked to take the country’s image to new heights on the global stage. Therefore, Indians are saying this in one voice to express their gratitude towards him,” he said.

Polling in Bareilly and Badaun will take place in the third phase on May 7.