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After bypoll wins, BJP now looks to strengthen hold in Azamgarh, Rampur
Days after winning the opposition Samajwadi Party’s citadels of Azamgarh and Rampur in the Lok Sabha bypolls, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government has now decided to build on its new-found gains in these districts
Days after winning the opposition Samajwadi Party’s citadels of Azamgarh and Rampur in the Lok Sabha bypolls, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party government has now decided to build on its new-found gains in these districts.
“The idea is to strengthen the BJP’s control here,” party leaders said. They admitted that the wins have been a big morale booster and the effort would be on keeping the gains intact ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
After defeating Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s cousin Dharmendra Yadav in the bypolls, Bhojpuri actor and singer and now the new Azamgarh MP, Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’ met chief minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal on Tuesday and was told to dedicate time in his constituency.
During the campaign in Azamgarh, Nirahua had faced the ‘outsider’ tag. During his campaign, BSP candidate Guddu Jamali had repeatedly said that after his win Nirahua would be back in Mumbai and would thus remain inaccessible.
Adityanath is learnt to have told Nirahua that since people have reposed their trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, the party will have to live up to the faith shown by the masses.
“Yes, we will work wholeheartedly for the people now. We will invest each minute of ours in people’s service,” Nirahua said at the U.P. BJP office. In Rampur former Azam Khan aide Ghanshyam Lodhi defeated Samajwadi Party district chief and Azam loyalist Asim Raja.
Orders have been issued to review projects that had been pending in these two constituencies. “No project or proposal should remain pending in these places,” the chief minister directed the officials. The CM office would be monitoring all work undertaken in these districts, officials said.
All through the bypoll campaign, the BJP leaders had appealed to the people to vote for the BJP and feel the benefits of the “double engine government.”
“The effort would be on making the people in Azamgarh and Rampur realise the difference now,” a U.P. minister said.
“Now, people in Azamgarh and Rampur will know what governance and development is,” tweeted Bhojpuri singer cum BJP leader Manoj Tiwari who along with other Bhojpuri actor cum Gorakhpur MP Ravi Kishen and other stars like Amrapali Dubey had fuelled Nirahua’s campaign.
Within 72-hours of the bypoll result, the chief minister has directed officials to prepare a proposal to ensure that Azamgarh’s Hariharpur becomes a big centre of learning for music lovers.
Similarly, orders have been issued to revamp Rampur’s Bilaspur sugarmill too. During the 100-day celebration of Yogi 2.0 government, ministers are expected in the two Lok Sabha constituencies.
The enormity of the BJP’s bypoll win could be gauged by the fact that despite its sweep elsewhere, the BJP had struggled to win in these two districts in the 2022 U.P. elections.
In the assembly polls, the SP had won all the 10 assembly segments in Azamgarh and 3 of the five assembly segments in Rampur too.
However, after Akhilesh Yadav decided to quit the Azamgarh Lok Sabha after winning the Karhal assembly seat in Mainpuri and Azam Khan quit Rampur Lok Sabha after winning from his traditional Rampur assembly seat, the BJP quickly moved in, mounting a high voltage campaign in the bypolls.
Despite the SP leaders accusing the BJP of misusing official machinery and pointing to abysmally low turnout in Muslim booths as proof, the BJP leaders dismissed the accusations as ‘sour grapes’.
What’s more, the BJP leadership is also looking to reach out to Muslim women in these two Lok Sabha constituencies with sizeable minority population.
“During the 2022 U.P. campaign too, we found support from Muslim women. In 2024 Lok Sabha campaign too, our work will speak for itself and we are confident that minorities, especially women, would understand that our party and its leadership stand for development sans any discrimination,” a minister said.
