JAUNPUR: The Malhani assembly segment near Jaunpur has emerged as a high-stake, poll battleground for the Samajwadi Party, BJP and JD(U) and their high-profile candidates.
While the SP has fielded sitting MLA Lucky Yadav from Yadav-dominated Malhani, the BJP has fielded its former MP K P Singh and strongman and former Jaunpur MP Dhananjay Singh is fighting for this seat on a JD(U) ticket.
The Malhani assembly goes to the polls on March 7.
The importance of the Malhani assembly seat may be seen from the fact it is only the second seat after Karhal, party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav has addressed an election rally despite not keeping good health.
Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav too have campaigned in support of Lucky Yadav.
Mulayam Singh Yadav addressed an election rally earlier from Karhal from where his son and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is fighting.
For BJP candidate K P Singh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a public meeting for the support of all the candidates of Jaunpur while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also held an election rally each here.
On the other hand, JD(U) chief Lalan Singh has held several public meetings in the area in support of Dhananjay Singh.
For Lucky Yadav, the seat is considered his family seat because his father Parasnath Yadav was a two-time MLA from here.
Apart from this, Parasnath Yadav was also a Lok Sabha MP and an MLA from Jaunpur.
His family too shares a good relationship with SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav with Parasnath Yadav being a minister in governments of both Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav.
In the 2017 assembly elections, Parasnath Yadav became an MLA from Malhani.
After his death, the SP made Lucky Yadav its candidate in the by-election and he won the Malhani seat, maintaining his family's legacy.
Dhananjay Singh is in the fray from Malhani, this time on a Janata Dal (United) ticket for the second time.
He had become an independent MLA from here for the first time in 2002.
Before delimitation, Malhani was called Rari.
In 2007, Singh won the seat on a JD(U) ticket.
He left JD(U) and joined BSP in 2008.
In 2009, he became a Lok Sabha member from Jaunpur on a BSP ticket and then in the by-election, he made his father Rajdev Singh win the Rari assembly seat on a BSP ticket.
In the 2012 assembly elections, Singh's wife Jagriti Singh contested as an independent from Rari seat but she lost.
Dhananjay contested as an independent candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Jaunpur but lost.
In the 2017 assembly elections, he contested on a Nishad Party ticket from the Malhani seat but lost.
Singh contested as an independent once again in the 2020 by-elections but lost again.
BJP candidate K P Singh's father Umanath Singh was a minister in the Kalyan Singh government.
KP Singh won the Lok Sabha elections from Jaunpur for the first time in 2014.
In 2019, he again contested the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket but lost.
Now he is contesting assembly elections for the first time.
Shailendra Yadav of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is contesting for the first time.
Yadav was once considered close to Dhananjay Singh.
Pushpa Shukla is in the fray from the Congress.
In Malhani, about 1.1 lakh voters are Yadavs.
In such a situation, Dhananjay Singh claims to have the support of other backward castes, Brahmins and Thakurs.
There are only about 40,000 voters from thge Thakur fraternity in Malhani.
But with the BJP candidate himself being a Thakur, he too is attracting his community votes as a candidate of a party likely to return to power besides those of Brahmins whom the BJP has assiduously tried to win to its side ahead of the polls.
SP candidate Lucky Yadav claims he is in the fray to carry forward development work done by his father.
"I am contesting to take forward the development work that my father had done in the area. He had opened a medical college in Jaunpur district but it was neglected by the BJP government, Yadav told PTI.
Because of this, neither classes of students nor treatment of patients could be started in the medical college. People say whatever development work has been done in the Jaunpur district, it was done by my father. The BJP neglected the area because it is considered a stronghold of Samajwadis," he alleged.
BJP candidate KP Singh, however, claims that despite SP having won the Malhani seat several times, no development work has been done here.
He said he hopes to reap the benefit of welfare schemes run by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The people of the area will strengthen the hands of the CM by making the BJP win, he said.
JD-U's Dhananjay Singh claims that the entire development in the Malhani area was done by him as MP and MLA and he will naturally further develop the area, being its resident.
Ramesh Chandra Pandey, a farmer of Banphasa village in Malhani, said, "For us, Dhananjay Singh is like a member of the family. Whether our daughters get married or someone dies in the family, 'Bhaiyya' always stands by us. That is why our entire village will vote for him irrespective of the party from which he is in the fray. Sanjay Mishra of Hasanpur village is completely satisfied with the work done by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Yogi Adityanath in the state."
He says his village gets round the clock electricity and the law and order environment has also improved.
"I and my family will support Yogi Adityanath," he said.
Nepal Yadav, a farmer from Belapar village, said Parasnath Yadav, who was the MLA of the area, did a lot for the region. Now his son Lucky takes great care of the people. Akhilesh has promised to give free electricity to farmers, this will benefit us a lot. Our vote will go to the Samajwadi Party."