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  India   All India  07 Mar 2017  In Saiyedraza, 3 Thakurs vie for Naxal approval

In Saiyedraza, 3 Thakurs vie for Naxal approval

THE ASIAN AGE. | AMITA VERMA
Published : Mar 7, 2017, 2:03 am IST
Updated : Mar 7, 2017, 6:33 am IST

The parties have been pushed into the wings and it is the ‘power’ of the candidate that matters, even appeals, to the voters here.

(Representational image)
 (Representational image)

Saiyedraza (Chandauli): If there is any constituency in Uttar Pradesh that is a perfect showcase of money and muscle power during polls, it is Saiyedraza in Chandauli district.

The parties have been pushed into the wings and it is the ‘power’ of the candidate that matters, even appeals, to the voters here.

Saiyedraza has a sizeable Thakur population which explains the three major political parties’ candidates belonging to this community. The candidates here have been at war in the underworld but have maintained an uncanny peace in politics.

Sushil Singh, the nephew of mafia don Brijesh Singh, is the BJP candidate while his arch rival Vineet Singh is contesting for BSP.

Brijesh Singh, also an MLC, is lodged in the neighboring Varanasi jail and his wife and former MLC Annapurna Singh is helping Sushil in the campaign. Vineet is a former acolyte of Mukhtar Ansari whose campaign is being run from behind bars.

The SP candidate is Manoj Singh ‘W’, who won as an Independent in 2012. Incidentally, ‘W’ Bhaiyya, as he is known, had defeated Brijesh in 2012 but has been maintaining a low profile fearing a backlash from the underworld.

As soon as you drive into Saiyedraza, the fear factor becomes palpable with truckloads of Central forces trooping into the constituency.

Brand new SUVs carrying gun-toting men whizz past the dusty roads but do not say which party they belong to. “Aap se kya?” asks one of them when asked which candidate he was campaigning for.

A local journalist says, “All three candidates patronise and fund the Naxal activists who, in turn, help them during the elections. This time, the situation is piquant as all strong candidates are pitted against each other and we do not know who will get the Naxal support in the end.”

Saiyedraza’s importance can be gauged from the fact that home minister Rajnath Singh, BSP supremo Mayawati and CM Akhilesh Yadav have all campaigned for their party candidates.

Tags: naxal, muscle power