GORAKHPUR: Filial ties could land Sanghmitra Maurya, BJP MP from Badaun, in trouble. On Monday night Sanghmitra, daughter of BJP turncoat Swami Prasad Maurya, had to leave her father’s door-to-door campaign midway. Sources said she was canvassing for her father “quietly” and was spotted by BJP workers who alerted party leaders in Fazilnagar, the constituency from where Maurya is a Samajwadi Party candidate.
Fazilnagar will vote along with Gorakhpur in Phase-6 of Assembly polls on March 3. Swami Prasad Maurya is a prominent non-Yadav OBC face in state politics. He is counting on his traditional vote base and that of SP’s core voters. His opponent, BJP’s Surender Singh Kushwaha, is also a prominent OBC face and is son of sitting BJP MLA Ganga Singh Kushwaha. The BJP is banking on the development work done by the Yogi government besides the caste dynamics.
However, BSP candidate Mohammad Illyas Ansari, an SP turncoat, has made the election triangular. The BSP has a strong presence in the assembly segment with over 80,000 Dalit and 90,000 Muslim voters. Maurya is wooing the voters over caste census while raising stray cattle menace, lack of health and education facilities and unemployment. He deserted BJP on January 14 to join the SP, after serving as labour minister in the Yogi cabinet for five years. He has now chosen Fazilnagar instead of adjoining stronghold Padrauna where he was believed to be facing strong anti-incumbency. Maurya had representing Padrauna for four terms since 2007.
In the fray with an outsider tag (given by rivals), Maurya is depending largely on the caste matrix of the segment with his influence over OBC Maurya-Kushwaha-Shakya-Saini community along with the traditional support base of the SP. BJP nominee Surender Singh Kushwaha too belongs to the OBC community. He comes from Gurwaliya, a village dominated by Kushwahas, in Fazilnagar.
Both Maurya and Kushwaha have left the voters confused. “It is a difficult election as the fight is between a big name (Maurya) and the local leader of the community,” says Sharad Kushwaha, a farmer. “Though Surender Singh is our own candidate and is always easily available in the hour of need, but Maurya is a big name.”
Ram Autar, 65, sounds hopeful saying Maurya is a big OBC leader and he will develop Fazilnagar. The saffron brigade is treating Fazilanagar as a seat of prestige. The BJP often targets Maurya for his ‘betrayal’. Fazilnagar is a small sub-urban pocket of Kushinagar, the land of Lord Budhha who had attained salvation here. Of the 5.5 lakh population, Fazilnagar has an electorate of 3.77 lakh.
“In 2017, we had voted for Ganga Singh Kushwaha. Now his son is contesting. Both the father and the son have influence over OBC voters. They are promising us to stand by in our happiness and grief. Voters will make a final decision on March 3,” says Jitendra Singh, a grocery shop owner in Babuganj market.
Compelled to make a tough choice between Maurya and Kushwaha, the voters of Fazilnagar are not ignoring BSP candidate Ilyas Ansari, who quit the Samajwadi Party after he could not get the ticket.
The Congress and the AAP has fielded Sunil Singh and Harish Chandra Yadav. For Sarvesh Kumar Maurya, the contest will be tough between BJP and SP. “My choice is clear. I may be belonging to the same caste as Swami Prasad but I cannot overlook the development done by the BJP.”
