While the BJP candidate is a crowd puller and is extremely popular among people and especially the youth, Akhilesh Yadav is the odds on favourite to win the election
In 2016 Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’, the Bhojpuri cine star, was honoured with Uttar Pradesh’s top award Yash Bharati. In that felicitation function the then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav sang paeans in his favour. He even called Nirahua the biggest ambassador of UP’s culture. Three years down the line `Nirahua’ is locking horns with Akhilesh in the battle of ballot from Azamgarh.
“I gave him Yash Bharati and now he is contesting against me,” Akhilesh Yadav said in one of his routine press conferences. “I am not surprised that he is contesting Lok Sabha election but am hurt that he is contesting on a BJP ticket,” he said.
The selection of Nirahua as candidate, that too from Azamgarh, came as a big surprise. The BJP opted for this Bhojpuri singer and pitted him against Akhilesh against all odds. Politically he is a novice. He joined BJP in April first week and within a week he was declared the candidate from Azamgarh in place of Ramakant Yadav, a local influential leader who was fielded by BJP in the last election against Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The popular singer is a craze among youth in eastern UP. BJP believes that if that craze can be transformed into votes, Nirahua can beat Akhilesh.
The youth have made a clear cut choice. “We love Nirahua. We will watch Nirahua’s movies but will vote for Akhilesh because it is an election for the Lok sabha not Bollywood,’ Amrit Yadav, a student of Shibli National College said.
He is a first time voter and wants to use his vote judiciously. “A majority of my friends will vote for Akhilesh,” he said.
Azamgarh, one of the main cities of eastern Uttar Pradesh, had been a centre of cultural heritage but it came under a cloud following the Batla House encounter in New Delhi. As this city is associated with Kaifi Aazmi, it conjures an image of a city rich in its culture and which takes pride in that heritage.
The constituency has always been Samajwadi party bastion as its candidate won elections in most of the elections. When SP did not win, it was BSP that emerged victorious from this important constituency. With SP and BSP joining hands this time, the equation is now heavily loaded in favour of the Samajwadi party and it is advantage Akhilesh from the onset.
What makes the SP confident is the caste equation of this constituency which has a substantial population of Yadavs, Jatavs and Muslims – who constitute the bulwark of Mahagathbandhan. The previous history of this constituency is clear reflection of the alliance’s supremacy as only Muslims and Yadavs have won elections from Azamgarh since 1996.
In the 2014 election, Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav defeated Ramakant Yadav of BJP by over 65,000 votes despite a strong Modi wave sweeping Uttar Pradesh. Azamgarh was one of the five seats SP had won in 2014.
Incidentally, Ramakant Yadav had won the 2009 election from Azamgarh on BJP ticket. Before that he had won elections from here in 1996 and 1999 on SP ticket and in 2004 on BSP ticket.
“This election pattern shows that Ramakant Yadav is an old war horse and holds massive support in Azamgarh. Despite he being MP from 1996 to 2009 he was humbled by Mulayam Singh Yadav. This shows the influence Akhilesh and his family enjoy here,” Mr Arif Siidiqui of Sibli national College, in Azamgarh said.
In last elections Mulayam Singh polled 35.43 per cent votes while Ramakant Yadav got 28.85 per cent votes and BSP candidate Shah Alam got 27.75 per cent. “Look at the arithmetic. The combined vote share of the SP and the BSP in Azamgarh was over 63 per cent. In this scenario, Akhilesh is miles ahead of Nirahua,” he said.
source: NH
 Chori Ki Thi, Tab Aapke Dil me Kaun Si Bhawana Thi? Tab Aapne Socha Ki Aap Bhind Ke Yuvaon Se Rojgar Chhin Rahe Ho. Nahi. Tab Aapne Socha Aap Shaheedo Ka Apmaan Kar Rahe ho, Nahi. Ye Batein Aapne Nahi Sochi. Magar Narendra Modi ji, Nyay se Koi Nahi Bach Sakta. (What was your feeling when you were committing theft. Did you think that you are snatching jobs from the youths of Bhind? No. Did you think that you are insulting the martyrs? No. You did not think this. But, Narendra Modi ji, nobody can escape justice.) He alleged the country’s youths lost job opportunities after the Modi government decided to buy Rafale jets built in France instead of manufacturing them in India. “Youths of Bhind secure the country…several youths of Bhind figure in the list of martyrs. Narendra Modi has taken Rs 30,000 crore from the youths of Bhind and put it into the account of (industrialist) Anil Ambani,” he said. In the past, Ambani has denied any government role in his company, Reliance Defence, bagging offset contract related to the Rafale deal. The Congress chief said, “The Rafale deal would have given jobs to the countrys youths but Narendra Modi did not give contract to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).” He claimed the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had no clue about the Rafale deal. “When asked by friends in press about the new contract given to Anil Ambani, Parrikar ji had said `I dont know anything…this work has been done by Narendra Modi ji…ask him’,” the Congress leader said. Rahul said the “chowkidar chor hai” slogan has not been coined by the Congress or him but by the youths and labourers of the country. The Congress leader has repeatedly hurled “chowkidar chor hai” (the watchman is a thief) jibe at Modi to target him over the Rafale deal. “Mediapersons asked me today about the genesis of the chowkidar chor hai slogan. I told them that while addressing a rally in Chhattisgarh, I said the chowkidar promised two crore jobs to the youth and assured Rs 15 lakh will be deposited in bank account of each Indian. “Around 10-15 young men in the rally said ‘chor hai’. “I did not hear it the first time. So I asked (the young men) what did you say? They said ‘chor hai’. “This slogan was not coined by the Congress, or by Rahul Gandhi, but it is a slogan of the youth, farmers and labourers of India,” he said. Claiming this slogan has become peoples slogan, Gandhi said, “Once when my car had halted at a traffic signal, an auto stopped by the side of my window (which was open), driver saw me smiling, saw in my eyes and said `chowkidar chor hai’.” The Congress chief’s remarks came on a day he tendered an unconditional apology in the Supreme Court for wrongfully attributing to the apex court the ‘chowkidar chor hai’ remark in the Rafale verdict. Speaking about the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (Nyay), which the Congress plans to introduce if voted to power, Rahul Gandhi said the scheme, under which Rs 72,000 per annum would be deposited in bank accounts of the poor, would boost people’s purchasing power and jump-start the economy. “Nyay will make up the loss inflicted by the note ban and the Goods and Services Tax (which he called Gabbar Singh Tax,” he said. The Congress president said no farmer would be jailed for not repaying loans if his party came to power at the Centre. “A farmer asked me that Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi (the jewellers wanted in the PNB fraud case) took loan of Rs 35,000 crore and did not pay it back. “Nirav is living in London, Anil Ambani took Rs 45,000 loan and did not return and is roaming scot free…no punishment but farmers get jail for a loan of mere Rs 10,000. “I wrote one line in (Congress) manifesto – no farmer will be sent to jail for not repaying bank loans,” he said. Urging Congress workers to ensure a clean sweep for the party in the Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rahul said, “Narendra is not coming back.. his vehicle has gone away..end..flop show. “See his face, see the energy in him, looking depressed… he has lost the election.” The Congress chief assured that 22 lakh vacant government posts will be filled within a year of his party coming to power at the Centre. The Congress has fielded Devashish Jararia from the Bhind Lok Sabha seat, which will got to the polls on May 12. Jararia’s main rival is BJP candidate Sandhya Rai.){kind=link}