Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati may have been late to the election jamboree in Uttar Pradesh, but that hasn't stopped her from creating a stir in the electoral battlefield of 2024. What till now appeared to be a direct fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the Samajwadi Party-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance suddenly acquired a new twist after the BSP announced its candidates. Bucking the perception of being the BJP's 'B' team, the party seems bent on spoiling their prospects, not just in the west but also in Purvanchal (eastern UP).
The BSP's latest shocker has been giving the Jaunpur LS ticket to Srikala Reddy, wife of mafia don-turned-politician Dhananjay Singh. The contest in this eastern UP constituency had looked like a straight fight between the BJP's Kripa Shankar Singh, a former Maharashtra home minister but a native, and the Samajwadi Party's Babu Singh Kushwaha after Dhananjay had been taken out of the equation (the ex-MP was convicted-for the first time ever-in a four-year-old kidnapping and extortion case) just days after he announced his intention to contest, but Srikala's entry has made it a three-cornered contest. The BSP candidate is currently the zila parishad chairman of Jaunpur and has an edge-even in the 2019 Modi wave, Jaunpur had voted for the elephant (the party symbol). The Thakur disaffection against Dhananjay's arrest and the 22 per cent Dalit and 11 per cent Muslim vote make the contest even more interesting.
Bu hikaye India Today dergisinin May 13, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye India Today dergisinin May 13, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Shuttle Star
Ashwini Ponnappa was the only Indian to compete in the inaugural edition of BDMNTN-XL, a new international badminton tourney with a new format, held in Indonesia
There's No Planet B
All Living Things-Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) returns with 72 films to be screened across multiple locations from Nov. 22 to Dec. 8
AMPED UP AND UNPLUGGED
THE MAHINDRA INDEPENDENCE ROCK FESTIVAL PROMISES AN INTERESTING LINE-UP OF OLD AND NEW ACTS, CEMENTING ITS REPUTATION AS THE 'WOODSTOCK OF INDIA'
A Musical Marriage
Faezeh Jalali has returned to the Prithvi Theatre Festival with Runaway Brides, a hilarious musical about Indian weddings
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
Nikhil Advani’s adaptation of Freedom at Midnight details our tumultuous transition to an independent nation
Family Saga
RAMONA SEN's The Lady on the Horse doesn't lose its pace while narrating the story of five generations of a family in Calcutta
THE ETERNAL MOTHER
Prayaag Akbar's new novel delves into the complexities of contemporary India
TURNING A NEW LEAF
Since the turn of the century, we have lost hundreds of thousands of trees. Many had stood for centuries, weathering storms, wars, droughts and famines.
INDIA'S BEATING GREEN HEART
Ramachandra Guha's new book-Speaking with Nature-is a chronicle of homegrown environmentalism that speaks to the world
A NEW LEASE FOR OLD FILMS
NOSTALGIA AND CURIOSITY BRING AUDIENCES BACK TO THE THEATRES TO REVISIT MOVIES OF THE YESTERYEARS
