The BJP has pitted Union minister of state for law and justice S.P. Singh Baghel against Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Karhal Assembly seat of Mainpuri district.
Baghel, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste, filed his nomination papers an hour after Akhilesh on Monday and claimed before the media that he would defeat his opponent.
Baghel is an MP from Agra while Akhilesh is an MP from Azamgarh. Both belong to the adjoining Etawah district.
A security officer of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav in the late 1980s, Baghel had started his political career in the Samajwadi Party.
He represented Jalesar Lok Sabha seat thrice between 1998 and 2009. He was a Rajya Sabha member of the Bahujan Samaj Party from 2010 to 2014 and then elected as a BJP MLA from Tundla in 2017. He was the junior irrigation minister in the UP government for two years before being an MP in 2019.
Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya tweeted in Hindi: “The BJP will win in Karhal, SP Singh Baghel will win. Sri Yadav Akhilesh will lose in Karhal in 2022. The BJP will win and lotus will bloom. There would be good governance and development will continue.”
A senior BJP leader told this newspaper in Lucknow that there were about 3.70 lakh voters in Karhal out of which 1.50 lakh were Yadavs, who were not going to deviate from the SP. “The voting turnout is 55 to 62 per cent there. The Yadav’s turnout is 100 per cent. There are only 60,000 SCs. Since caste is the ultimate reality, we believe that Baghel has been fielded from there to send a message across the state that we are not giving a cakewalk to Akhilesh,” the BJP leader said on the condition of anonymity.
Asked about the social dynamics of Karhal, Baghel said: “It is an insult to democracy if we say that caste votes are necessary to win such and such seat. I will end the dominance of the Yadav family.”
After filing his nomination papers, Akhilesh told reporters: “My party workers and leaders have told me that I don’t need to campaign in Karhal to win. I can win without coming here during the election. However, I will campaign here if my leaders ask me to do.”
Karhal will vote in the third phase on February 20.
