BJP’s Dhirendra Singh defeats SP-RLD’s Avtar Singh Bhadana by 56,315 votes in Jewar

Compared to Noida and Dadri, the battle for Jewar had garnered more interest as the Noida international airport -- a project crucial for the region’s future development -- is coming up here

Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) incumbent MLAs Pankaj Singh from Noida, Thakur Dhirendra Singh from Jewar, and Tejpal Nagar from Dadri constituencies in Gautam Budh Nagar retained their seats in the Uttar Pradesh assembly election 2022.

BJP’s Thakur Dhirendra Singh defeated Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal (SP-RLD) candidate and four-time Member of Parliament Avtar Singh Bhadana by 56,315 votes, winning what political experts said would be a tough fight in the high-profile constituency of Jewar. (Sunil Ghosh/HTPhoto)

While Thakur Dhirendra Singh defeated Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal (SP-RLD) candidate and four-time Member of Parliament Avtar Singh Bhadana by 56,315 votes, winning what political experts said would be a tough fight in the high-profile constituency of Jewar, Pankaj Singh set a record by garnering the second-highest victory margin in the state--181,513-- against Samajwadi Party’s Sunil Chaudhary in Noida. Tejpal Nagar, meanwhile, bested Samajwadi Party’s candidate Raj Kumar Bhati by a margin of 138,218 in Dadri.

Compared to Noida and Dadri, the battle for Jewar had garnered more interest as the Noida international airport -- a project crucial for the region’s future development -- is coming up here.

According to experts, Thakur Dhirendra Singh had his task cut out because Bhadana, a sitting MLA from UP’s Meerapur (in Mazaffarnagar district) who had switched camp from BJP to RLD just before the assembly election, and was contesting for the SP-RLD combine, is known for changing constituencies and mostly winning them throughout his political career.

“The Jewar result may surprise many, because heavyweight candidate Bhadana, who was undefeated so far, lost this time. But we must understand that people prefer a candidate who belongs to the region and is always available to address a crisis. It is clear that people voted out a parachute candidate and trusted a local one,” said Vivek Mishra, head of department of political science, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida.

Thanking his supporters and party workers, Singh said, “This is the victory of the people of my constituency who supported me and my party for the work we did in the past five years. People voted for development as our government is building an international airport in Jewar, a film city and other world class projects in the region, and creating jobs for the youth.”

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath himself had campaigned for Singh in Jewar on February 8, just before Gautam Budh Nagar went to polls in phase one of the seven phase assembly election on February 10, appealing to the public to vote for development and good governance. Adityanath had said that the airport at Jewar will benefit the farmers and other communities in all western UP districts.

In the 2017 assembly polls, Singh had received a total of 102,979 votes, compared to 80,806 votes received by Bahujan Samaj Party’s Vedram Bhati and 13,239 votes received by Narender Nagar of Samajwadi Party. This election, breaking his previous record, Singh received 112,036 votes and defeated heavyweight Bhadana, who secured 57,966 votes, and Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Narendra Bhati ,who polled 44,267, securing thethird spot out of the total 229,807 votes polled in this election.

Dhirendra Singh was a Congress worker for 30 years before he joined the BJP after being denied a ticket in the assembly polls in 2017. He rose to prominence during the farmer agitation in Bhatta Parsaul in 2010 when he ferried Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to the villages on his motorcycle.