Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav‘s ally Rajbhar is facing a stiff challenge from the BJP and the BSP in Ghazipur’s Zahoorabad.
In the seventh phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election in Ghazipur district, the battle is tough on all seven seats. The Samajwadi Party-led alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are vying for the most votes in the final lap of Assembly polls. Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) leader Om Prakash Rajbhar who has allied with Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party is contesting from Zahoorabad seat in the district.
Ghazipur district earlier used to make headlines for being the home turf of Uttar Pradesh’s Bahubali MLA Mukhtar Ansari, whose brother Afzal Ansari won the Mohammadabad assembly seat five times between 1985 and 1996.
The Zahoorabad seat is witnessing a triangular contest between OP Rajbhar, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Shadab Fatima, and former MLA and BJP candidate Kalicharan Rajbhar. The Congress has fielded Gyan Singh Munna from this seat.
OP Rajbhar won this seat in 2017, when his SBSP had an alliance with the BJP. Shadab Fatima won this seat in 2012 as the Samajwadi Party candidate, while Kali Charan won this seat in 2002 and 2007 as the BSP nominee.
Rajbhar community voters are said to be the deciding factor in Assembly election at Zahoorabad seat. Other influential community voters are Chauhans, Kshatriyas, Muslims, and Yadavs in Zahoorabad constituency.
OP Rajbhar claimed that the SP-SBSP alliance would win a landslide in this seat. He told India Today he enjoyed the popular support of the Rajbhar community, whom he described as the mainstay of his political journey.
Attempting to scuttle division of votes, OP Rajbhar said only SP-SBSP alliance could defeat the BJP. He said the BSP or the Congress nominees would not be able to defeat the BJP.
Congress’s Gyan Singh Munna hit back at OP Rajbhar, saying, “He has done nothing in this assembly constituency.”
Munna claimed that the Zahoorabad voters would vote for the Congress in the assembly election this time.
Projecting himself as a strongman in the Zahoorabad constituency, Om Prakash Rajbhar often refers to himself as ‘Gabbar’, likening himself to the famous character from the Bollywood blockbuster “Sholay”.
BJP candidate Kalicharan Rajbhar took a jibe at OP Rajbhar, saying it would be known on March 10, the day of counting of votes, who the Gabbar was in this constituency.
BSP’s Shadab Fatima too hit out at OP Rajbhar, dubbing him the “biggest goon”. She challenged OP Rajbhar, saying she defeated him twice in assembly polls.
Fatima said, “I have never lost an election. Unfortunately, I was denied a party ticket in 2017; otherwise, Om Prakash Rajbhar would not have won that election.”
Uttar Pradesh is voting in the assembly election. Six phases of voting have happened. The seventh and final phase of voting will be held on March 7. Votes will be counted for all 402 assembly seats on March 10 along with four other states Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa
