NEW DELHI: Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who represents Lucknow in the present Lok Sabha, may be fielded from the prestigious Gautam Buddh Nagar parliamentary constituency replacing sitting MP and Union minister Mahesh Sharma, who is likely to be shifted to Alwar in Rajasthan.
In the wake of the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah, it is learnt, are working on their time-tested formula of denying tickets to sitting members to beat anti-incumbency.
BJP sources said initial surveys by party leadership and local RSS units suggest anger among Gautam Buddh Nagar’s rural populace -- which is 40 per cent of the constituency’s total population.
The parliamentary constituency includes cities like Noida and Greater Noida, as well as rural areas covering the Assembly segments of Khurja, Sikandrabad, Dadri, and Jewar.
According to rough estimates by political parties, 12 lakh voters of the Gautam Buddh Nagar constituency’s total 19 lakh electorates come from rural areas. The urban voters make for a meager 7 lakh. Of these too, Rajputs are the highest in number followed by Muslims, Gujjars and Jats.