Ghaziabad: BJP ropes in Pushkar Dhami, Maurya for migrant, OBC votes
The leaders were brought in to attract voters belonging to eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and also Kshatriyas
Ghaziabad: It was “super Sunday” for political parties as a spectrum of key politicians arrived in Ghaziabad.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) roped in Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, UP’s deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, Delhi’s BJP MP Manoj Tiwari and Rajnath Singh’s son Neeraj Singh for campaigning.
The BJP campaigners held public meetings and rallies in Khoda, Loni and Ghaziabad city, among others. The party’s office bearers informed that the leaders were brought in to attract voters belonging to eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and also Kshatriyas.
“It was last Sunday before the election day (April 26, Friday) and people were available at home. We are targeting OBCs with help of Maurya ji, people of Uttarakhand by Dhami ji, people of Bihar and eastern UP by Manoj Tiwari and Kshatriyas with the help of Neeraj Singh,” said Ajay Sharma, Lok Sabha convener (BJP, Ghaziabad).
“We estimate that we have about 300,000 to 400,000 voters who belong to eastern UP, Bihar and Uttarakhand while about 1.5 lakh voters are Kshatriyas. OBCs are estimated at about 300,000,” he added.
UP deputy CM Maurya held election rallies in Khoda and Loni that are densely populated. In Loni, he talked about 2016 surgical strikes (in Pakistan) and abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir (under Narendra Modi government) while attacking the opposition parties.
“This is true that there is a one-sided wind blowing in favour of our candidate. But you have to ensure that you go and vote. If you press the button in front of ‘Kamal,’ (BJP’s lotus symbol), the issues in Khoda will be resolved. You must believe that ₹2,500 crore have been approved by efforts of Sunil Sharma (BJP MLA from Sahibabad),” deputy CM Maurya said at a public rally in Khoda.
He said that Delhi chief minister (Arvind Kejriwal) is in jail and Modi ji says that it is just a trailer against corruption. Maurya also spoke about continuing free-ration to 800 million people (for next five years).
“One part of Kashmir is still occupied by Pakistan... Our mission is incomplete,” he said, also reminding people that after 500 years, ‘Ram Lalla’ has taken his birthplace in Ayodhya.
Uttarakhand CM Dhami attended a traders’ congregation at Hindi Bhavan in Ghaziabad’s Lohiya Nagar where many traders and businessmen participated.
“This election is not for a win or loss... There are countries which do not want a progressive and developed Bharat... they are trying every tactic. These anti-national powers do not wish Modi ji to become PM. People who support terrorists, jehadis and separatists, do not want PM Modi,” he said.
“But there is a discourse in the country and surveys and analysis which tell that Modi ji will become PM again,” Dhami added.
Referring to elections in Ghaziabad, Noida and Delhi, Dhami said, “We are winning every seat. Even if turnout is low, the BJP will not get fewer votes.”
Referring to the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) being implemented in other parts of the country, he said: “The Ganga of Uniform Civil Code from Uttarakhand will flow to other parts of the country.”
In March, the state of Uttarakhand became the first state in independent India to have a UCC Act after President Droupadi Murmu approved the state’s UCC Bill, 2024.
The Bill while keeping tribals out of ambit has a complete ban on practices like halala, iddat, and talaq, customs related to Muslim Personal Law.
The Uttarakhand state assembly in February had passed the Bill which ensured equal rights in matters related to property and inheritance rights to women.
Meanwhile, the Bahujan Samaj Party on the other hand conducted a major rally at Kavi Nagar Ramlila Ground and BSP chief Mayawati gave a detailed speech about her party’s position on ‘Kshatriya discontent’ besides voicing concerns about backwards, Dalits, Muslims and other religious-minorities.
The Congress on the other hand brought in its leader Pramod Tiwari.
“During last 10 years, the BJP government has not fulfilled its promises. We have also rolled out our manifesto and rolled out many beneficial schemes for all. We are very excited about the outcome in phase 1 polling and the reports are very encouraging for us,” Tiwari said at Congress candidate Dolly Sharma’s election office at Ambedkar Road on Sunday.
“Both Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav have already arrived and in the next three days more leaders will be coming.In the first phase, the BJP has been wiped out in South and they have reduced to half in North,” he added.