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A royal challenge for ‘Garibon ki Rani’ in Bah
Hanskali Nishad, SP candidate from Bah who survives on her deceased husband’s income was called ‘Garibon Ki Rani’ by CM Akhilesh Yadav. She is in the fray against the richest candidate in Bah, Pakshalika Singh (BJP)
Will it be a ‘Rani’ versus ‘Garibon ki Rani’ in Bah assembly constituency of Agra?
Pakshalika Singh (BJP) of Bhadawar royal family is the richest candidate in the region with a declared property of over Rs 58 crore. In sharp contrast, Hanskali Nishad alias Anshu of the Samajwadi Party lives on the income of her husband, who died in a road accident while travelling from Delhi to Agra recently. He had gone to Delhi seeking BJP ticket for the ensuing polls.
Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had coined the sobriquet ‘ Garibon ki Rani’ for Anshu during a rally in Bah last week and it has caught on the voter’s fancy. The contest is now described as ‘ Rani’ versus ‘ Garibon ki Rani’ in the entire constituency.
There is a reason why Yadav is rooting for Hanskali Nishad- he is determined to win the seat as the sitting party MLA Aridaman Singh has defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rani Pakshalika Singh is his wife.
Though Aridaman won the seat in 2012 hands down, the present Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Madhusudan Sharma had defeated Aridaman in 2007. Sharma is also in fray as a BSP candidate.
Pakshalika Singh has an uphill task this time around, far steeper than what Aridaman faced in 2007. The contest on the seat was bi-polar in 2007 but this time it is a triangular fight between a member of Thakur royal family, a Brahmin, and a Dalit.
Akhilesh apparently has another grudge against Pakshalika, for he had announced her candidature from Khairagadh despite the fact that she had lost the election from the seat on SP ticket in 2012.
Aridaman was a minister in the Akhilesh cabinet, but was sacked much before the Yadav family feud came out in the open. Aridaman was identified with the Shivpal-Mulayam camp yet Akhilesh announced his candidature from Bah and of Pakshalika from Kheragadh.
As Aridaman is not contesting election this time, Pakshalika has the responsibility of carrying forward the legacy of Bhadawar family’s four-decade dominance in Bah.
The ‘Garibon ki Rani’
