IT WILL be the saffron brigade versus the Samajwadi Party candidate in the Zila Panchayat chairperson’s election. The election will be an acid test for both the Samajwadi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Yogi Adityanath.
Polarisation of votes has begun and Opposition parties have reached an understanding with Bharatiya Janata Party MP Yogi Adityanath in a bid to ensure the defeat of the SP candidate.
On their part, SP leaders were confident that their candidate Chinta Yadav would emerge victorious, but they kept their cards close to their chest.
Party leaders also denied horse-trading from their side.
They hoped that Zila Panchayat members would vote in favour of the SP candidate to kick off stalled development projects in the district.
However, SP MLA from Maniram Kamlesh Paswan has raised the banner of revolt against the party’s official candidate Chinta Yadav. He has joined hands with Yogi Adityanath, along with the joint opposition front to ensure the victory of the front candidate Kaushalya Devi.
Kamlesh has blamed local leaders of the SP for an arbitrary attitude in selection of the party candidate. Senior party leaders Gopal Yadav, Zafar Amin Dakku, Ram Darash Vidyarthi and Chandrabali Yadav said Kamlesh had joined hands with forces who were involved in assassination of his father and then SP MLA Omprakash Paswan at Bansgaon during a public meeting.
{{/usCountry}}Kamlesh has blamed local leaders of the SP for an arbitrary attitude in selection of the party candidate. Senior party leaders Gopal Yadav, Zafar Amin Dakku, Ram Darash Vidyarthi and Chandrabali Yadav said Kamlesh had joined hands with forces who were involved in assassination of his father and then SP MLA Omprakash Paswan at Bansgaon during a public meeting.
{{/usCountry}}While the SP was facing challenges posed by its own MLA, the candidates of the joint opposition front Kaushalya Devi was worried as the BSP had fielded Anju Singh as the party candidate at the last moment. The absence of Adityanath at time of the nomination of Kaushalya Devi also increased worries of the joint opposition front.
Hectic lobbying has started to mobilise the support of zila panchayat members in favour of their candidates. Former Cabinet minister Markandey Chand and Fatehbahadur Singh, along with SP MLA Kamlesh, is working hard to ensure
the success of Kaushalya Devi.
At the same time, the presence of the joint opposition front has succeeded in uniting the different factions of the Samajwadi Party and they are organising a meeting to finalise the strategy for the prestigious seat.
Sources said a delegation of party leaders had gone to Lucknow with zila panchayat members to demonstrate the party’s strength before party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.