KV Prasad
Tribune News Service
Ghazipur (UP), May 11
It is being seen as a contest between “Vikasvad” and “Bahubal” as the tussle to take control of this parliamentary seat in eastern Uttar Pradesh becomes essentially a straight contest between Union Minister Manoj Sinha and his challenger Afzal Ansari, the joint candidate of BSP-SP ‘gathbandhan’.
Ansari, brother of strongman Mukhtar Ansari, is no stranger in these parts having defeated Sinha in 2004 on an SP ticket, while the BJP candidate is seen as one of the few ministers in the Union Government whose work found the approval of PM Narendra Modi.
Sinha is talked of as a person who is both approachable and industrious, having worked for the development of the area, including connecting the state capital through a direct train, developing highways and attracting investment in this backward region.
Presenting his assessment of the contest, resident Shibu Mahtab says if people vote on performance, Sinha should win but then the arithmetic of the SP-BSP is bound to complicate things. The BSP-SP feels besides the numbers adding in favour of the alliance, its workers are attempting to drive in the local MP’s inability to deliver on key promises, especially developing an “adarsh gram”, BSP area in-charge Ingle Ram said.
Problem of vagrant cattle, rural distress and lack of jobs are issues that are troubling the constituents. In order to give a boost to his colleague, the PM addressed a rally here today to strengthen Sinha’s prospects in an election where votes are being sought in the name of Modi.
Besides stressing development work, Modi attacked the Congress and ‘gathbandhan’ playing on the words ‘Hua to hua’ as the mantra reflecting their insouciance towards people and the poor. Modi continued to play up his poor background, ridiculing his opponents for seeking to know his caste, which he said was “poverty”.
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2VhMt7q
via Today’s News Headlines
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