VARANASI: In February 2022. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha embarked on a temple run in his native Ghazipur district of eastern Uttar Pradesh, amid the assembly polls in the BJP-ruled state.
The opposition parties had then alleged that Sinha’s visit to his native place was actually a “pseudo campaign” for the BJP candidates on various seats of Ghazipur district. The saffron party, however, lost all the seven assembly seats of the district in the 2022 elections. Those seats included Ghazipur Sadar, Mohammadabad and Zamania, where the BJP candidates were considered close to Sinha.
More than two years after that 2022 temple run visit which coincided with the state elections, Sinha is again on a similar visit to his native place.
This time, the visit coinciding with the Lok Sabha polls, assumes particular significance, as the BJP candidate from Ghazipur LS seat is Paras Nath Rai (an old RSS worker and educationist), who has played a key role in managing Sinha’s previous Lok Sabha battles from the same seat.
The current visit is not solely dedicated to offering prayers at temples, but prominently includes visits to families of his close contacts. He was in Ghazipur first between May 22 and 24 and is likely to return to his home district again by Sunday evening for fresh tour with his contacts across the district, whose seven assembly segments form part of Ghazipur and Ballia.
According to political watchers in Ghazipur, while Sinha’s trusted aide Rai is fighting hard to make the battle close against SP candidate and MP Afzal Ansari, the BJP candidate in adjoining Ballia Neeraj Shekhar (two times ex- SP MP and younger son of ex-PM Late Chandra Shekhar) is fighting a neck-to-neck with the SP candidate Sanatan Pandey.