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BJP steps up efforts to wrest lone Congress bastion Rae Bareli in 2024 Lok Sabha polls
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath visits Rae Bareli for apolitical function, Smriti Irani to follow soon, Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar also likely to visit district
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath visited Rae Bareli on Wednesday to attend a programme organised to mark the 218th birth anniversary of freedom fighter Rana Beni Madhav Baksh Singh there.
Rae Bareli, the Lok Sabha seat of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, may see more visits by senior BJP leaders in the coming months as the party has stepped up efforts to wrest the seat from Congress in 2024 Lok Sabha elections, according to Rae Bareli’s BJP leaders.
It is the only Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh that the Congress won in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Union minister and Amethi MP Smriti Irani will visit Rae Bareli to preside over a meeting of District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DISHA) to monitor various development programmes on August 28.
Then, Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who has been appointed BJP’s incharge for the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat, is also expected to visit Rae Bareli soon.
Local BJP leaders claimed that the party’s popularity was on the rise in Rae Bareli.
Though Yogi Adityanath did not make any political comment, his party leaders did not refrain from doing so. Yogi had attended a similar programme organised in memory of the freedom fighter in 2019.
As the programme was apolitical in nature, leaders of all the major political parties were present on the occasion. Former legislator Indresh Vikram Singh heads the Rana Beni Madhav Baksh Singh Smarak Samiti.
“Leaders of all the political parties attended Wednesday’s programme. This shows the acceptability of chief minister Yogi Adityanath and the (popularity of) the BJP has increased among the people of Rae Bareli. We are sure the lotus will bloom in Rae Bareli and the BJP will win the seat in 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” said minister of state Dinesh Pratap Singh when asked to comment. The minister had shared the dais with the chief minister.
“The chief minister has blessed this Rana Beni Madhav Baksh Singh Smarak Samiti in the past (attended a similar programme in Rae Bareli in 2019) and continues to bless the same. Rana Beni Madhav Smarak Samiti has done what many big leaders could not do by bringing leaders of all political parties together,” Dinesh Pratap Singh said.
He also said Rana Beni Madhav Baksh Singh’s statue was the tallest in Rae Bareli and used the occasion to target the Congress for not installing any statue of Rae Bareli’s first MP Feroze Gandhi in Rae Bareli.
“Many people have been active in Rae Bareli politics. Rae Bareli’s first MP’s father-in-law was Prime Minister, his wife was PM and so was his son. His daughter-in-law was super Prime Minister. But there is no statue of Rae Bareli’s first MP anywhere. Rana Beni Madhav Baksh Singh Smarak Samiti has got such a big statue installed in Rae Bareli today. I am grateful to Rana Beni Madhav Smarak Samiti for this,” said Dinesh Pratap Singh without naming Feroze Gandhi.
BJP MLA Aditi Singh used the occasion to target the Congress, saying some political parties have given the slogan of “Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon”.
“But it is chief minister Yogi Adityanath who has taught me how to fight,” she said. Asked to comment about the BJP’s moves, Aditi Singh said, “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the BJP will win Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in 2024. As Rae Bareli MLA, I will make all efforts to ensure this.”
Dinesh Pratap Singh had been a Congress MLC earlier. He was among the first to leave the Congress in Rae Bareli and join the BJP in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah (on April 21, 2018) ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Singh’s brother and the then Congress MLA Rakesh Singh and the then Congress MLA Aditi Singh formally joined the BJP ahead of the 2022 UP assembly elections.
