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BJP goes all out to capture Rahul turf

Last Updated 21 December 2014, 19:01 IST

Apparently sensing an “opportunity” after Union minister Smriti Irani gave a tough fight and managed to reduce his winning margin by two lakh, BJP has gone all out to capture Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha constituency of Amethi.

While Irani, even after her loss, continued to maintain her relations with the electorate in the form of financial assistance to the needy ones, Union defence minister Manohar Parrikar, who was a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, decided to adopt a village under “Adarsh Sansad Gaon” project in Amethi.

Hunting for more prominent leaders to challenge Rahul on his turf, the saffron party, in a “political coup” of sorts, managed to rope in  Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh’s son Anant Vikram Singh.

Singh joined the BJP along with scores of his supporters at a function here on Sunday in the presence of the Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Luxmi Kant Bajpai. “Let my father work at central level and leave Amethi to me,” remarked Anant after joining the saffron party.
“I believe in taking challenges and will do whatever the party instructs me,” he said.

Sources in the BJP here said Anant could be the BJP candidate from Amethi in the 2017 Assembly polls. “Anant has been asked to start preparations,” said a senior state BJP leader here while speaking to Deccan Herald.

“There is resentment among the electorate in Amethi on issues of development...we can cash in on that with Anant’s help,” he quipped.

The leader candidly admitted that Anant, who is son of Sanjay Singh’s first wife Garima Singh, would be projected as a “political heir” to the erstwhile royal family of Amethi, which still wielded considerable influence in the area.

Sanjay Singh’s second wife Amita Singh had represented Amethi Assembly seat earlier. She had lost the 2012 polls to the Samajwadi Party nominee.

Anant was currently involved in a bitter and violent struggle with his father over inheritance rights. The supporters of Sanjay Singh and Anant had clashed in Amethi a few days back during which a police constable was killed.

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(Published 21 December 2014, 19:01 IST)

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