Lucknow: Sirathu assembly seat in Kaushambi district of Uttar Pradesh is in the news because the current Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh government Keshav Prasad Maurya himself is contesting from here. Keshav Prasad Maurya has been an MLA from Sirathu assembly seat even before and is now claiming his victory again., BJP also seems confident about his victory.,
However, bringing Dalits to their side in this Dalit majority seat is like a challenge for every candidate, irrespective of the party., But, this challenge appears small in front of Keshav Prasad Maurya because he has been successful in connecting Dalits with him in the past as well.,
Keshav had broken BSP’s ‘Illusion’
This assembly seat was once considered a confirmed seat of BSP, but in the 2012 assembly elections, Keshav Prasad Maurya broke the BSP’s magic and proved that the Dalit community here is with the BJP., After 2012, BJP also won here in the 2017 assembly elections., However, Keshav Prasad Maurya did not contest from here in 2017.,
BJP won all three seats in 2017
But, being the state president of BJP, got the party victory in all the three seats of his home district Kaushani, which was not possible without Dalit votes., Let us inform that there are about 90 thousand Dalit votes with about 60 thousand Pasi votes in Siradhu assembly seat., At the same time, there are about one lakh Dalit voters each in Chail and Manjhanpur assembly seats.,
Patel voters in confusion
Now Keshav Prasad is once again in the electoral fray in the election battle of 2022., Pallavi Patel is contesting in front of him on Samajwadi Party ticket., In such a situation, Patel voters are confused as to which of the two sisters to support because Anupriya Patel is in the NDA alliance and she had recently come to campaign in support of Keshav Prasad Morch.,
However, in the last assembly elections, the Patel community appeared with the BJP., Then Sheetla Prasad Patel had won the seat for the BJP., In such a situation, if the BJP suffers some loss of Patel votes due to Pallavi Patel, then the BJP’s eyes will be on the Dalit community including Pasi Samaj, Sonkar and Kori to make up for it. BJP is treating them with it,
The reason for this is also that in the recent past, the BJP as an organization has tried to strengthen itself among the Dalit community., An example of this can be seen in the fact that here the overhead bridge has been named after Bijli Pasi, the last king of the Pasi Empire., BJP has given representation to the society by making Kaushambi MP Vinod Sonkar National Secretary.,
first published:Feb. 23, 2022, 12:18 am
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