Two musclemen lock horns in naxal region

In Saiyadraja constituency in the naxal region of Chandauli district, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Sushil Singh, who is the nephew of mafia-turned politician Brijesh Singh, an MLC, is locked in a fierce ‘battle of ballots’ with Vineet Singh alias Shyam Narain Singh of the BSP.

Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, the Hindi heartland of the country, are considered to be incomplete without participation of musclemen and jailed mafia dons.

(L-R) Annapurna Singh, wife of Brijesh Singh and Kiran Singh, wife of Sushil Singh. (HT Photo)

The Robin Hood kind of image of these candidates makes them most sought after, not only among youths but also people of their caste.

In Saiyadraja constituency in the naxal region of Chandauli district, two bahubalis (musclemen) are challenging each other.

Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Sushil Singh, who is the nephew of mafia-turned politician Brijesh Singh, an MLC, is locked in a fierce ‘battle of ballots’ with Vineet Singh alias Shyam Narain Singh of the BSP.

The two bahubalis will challenge sitting Samajwadi Party MLA Manoj Kumar Singh alias ‘Dabloo’, who has a clean image.

In the 2012 assembly polls, this clear image of Manoj Kumar had helped him in taking on Brijesh Singh, the incarcerated don of Purvanchal. Manoj managed to defeat Singh by a margin of around 2,000 votes.

Sushil Singh, son of former BJP MLC Udaynath Singh alias Chulbul Singh, is sitting MLA from Sakaldiha constituency, Chandauli district. He won the 2012 assembly election as an independent candidate.

As many as 14 criminal cases are pending against Vineet Singh, including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping for ransom and kidnapping for murder.

Canvassing has picked up in Saiyadraja constituency which goes to poll in the final and seventh phase on March 8.

The entire muscle power of Brijesh Singh is running the election campaign of Sushil Singh, who is not willing to take his opponents casually. However, giving an edge to Sushil Singh’s campaign are two female members of the family- Annapurna Singh, wife of Brijesh Singh and Kiran Singh, wife of Sushil Singh. The two women are reaching out to every nook and corner of the constituency in SUVs, connecting with women voters.

Vineet Singh, a former BSP MLC, is banking on the BSP vote bank and his well-spread network in the region to take on Sushil Singh. Vineet Singh’s wife and brother are spearheading his election campaign.

Vineet Singh courted controversy when a poster showing chief minister Akhilesh Yadav being chased by an elephant was shared from his social media account last year. He tried to set aside the controversy by calling it as a conspiracy against him.

However, due to pressure from cops, Singh got a bail revoked in an old criminal case lodged in Ranchi and is at present lodged in Varanasi jail. For campaigning in election, court has granted Vineet Singh 15 days’ parole. Soon, he will reach Saiyadraja for campaigning.

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