Ex-aide pitted against Raghuraj Pratap Singh in Kunda
Kunda, Pratapgarh: Known by the moniker "Kunda ka Gunda", six-time MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya is facing a challenge from his erstwhile aide, Gulshan Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, in his pocket borough Kunda.
The Samajwadi Party, which had not fielded its candidate on the seat in the past 15 years, has put its nominee this elections to make the contest tough for Raja Bhaiya in his seventh outing in the assembly elections.
Kunda and other assembly segments of Pratapgarh will go to vote in the fifth phase on February 27.
The controversial MLA was in the news after he got arrested in 2002 by the then chief minister Mayawati. The Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) was also invoked against him.
Soon after the formation of Mulayam Singh Yadav's government in 2003, all POTA charges against him were dropped and his political stature grew overnight.
Ever since then, his relationship with the SP continued and the party did not field a candidate against him in three subsequent elections in 2007, 2012 and 2017.
This time, however, the Samajwadi Party has fielded former nagar panchayat chairman Gulshan Yadav and he is leading an aggressively vocal campaign which many believe has not been seen in any of the past contests here.
Raja Bhaiya has retained the seat winning for the last six terms --1993, 1996, 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017 -- as an Independent candidate surviving all waves and challenges. In the last election his victory margin was around 1.04 lakh votes.
Former chief minister Kalyan Singh had dubbed Raja Bhaiya as "Kunda ka Gunda" and the tag stuck to him.
"This is the first time Raja Bhaiya and his supporters are seen running around in the constituency.Earlier he used to call a meeting of his supporters and assign duties and sit back during the elections," Gulshan Yadav told PTI.
"He has not done any development here, if there was any development it was only for one caste. He used to get the vote of Samajwadi Party or any other party supporting him before. But things are different this time," Yadav said, adding that the SP is fighting with all seriousness and is all set to win the seat.
"Meeting of Akhilesh Yadav is also being finalised on this seat," he said.
The 53-year-old Raja Bhaiya had met Mulayam Singh Yadav recently in Lucknow signalling he would have his and his party's support once again. But, within days of the meeting, Akhilesh Yadav had refused to recognise him.
When asked about Raja Bhaiya, Akhilesh Yadav had shot back, "who is Raja Bhaiya?"
Akhilesh Yadav's move to distance himself from people like Raja Bhaiya and Mukhtar Ansari is being read in political circles as an image changeover attempt of the SP, which the BJP has been attacking as a party of criminals and mafias.
The constituency with a total electorate of around 3.5 lakh voters has a sizeable number of Yadavs (80,000), Patels (50,000), Pasis (50,000), Brahmins and Muslims (both around 45,000 each) besides other castes though Thakurs are about 15,000. Raja Bhaiya is a Thakur.
On his part, Raja Bhaiya who has floated his own party Jansatta Dal and also fielded candidates on 19 other seats, has refuses to react to Gulshan Yadav and his rhetoric but is confident of his victory.
"It is not the first time that all parties have fielded candidates against me. In 1993, both the SP and BSP had together given joint candidates. BJP, Janata Dal also contested the seat," he said.
"All the people here know that there is no caste factor and no discrimination, Jansatta Dal has influence in the area. It will be a record win this time too. I have no challenge from anyone, they are fighting for the second, third or fourth spot," Raja Bhaiya said.
"My challenge is only to surpass the last record of about 1.04 lakh victory margin. People of the constituency will break this record", he adds.
Raghuraj Pratap, who is also the scion of the Bhadri estate, is held in awe by the people in the constituency and there is a section who claims to be BJP supporter, but is ready to ignore ruling party candidate Sindhuja Mishra for the Raja.
They vociferously contest all claims of lack of development and there are others who suggest that there would be some change and also development in the constituency soon.
"Raja Bhaiya and his supporters seem to be working hard this time. We hope that jobs will be announced and there will be development in the area soon," a group of youth sitting in the main Kunda Bazar said.
Abrar Ahmed of Mauli village says there appears to be some activity in Raja Bhaiya's camp since the SP cadre, which had backed him earlier, has shifted loyalties.
"The electorate here has got an option now," he said.
Sitting in his garment shop at Bhagwant crossing, Rajesh Kumar Tripathi and his friends, who are self-proclaimed BJP supporters, say they have complete faith in the sitting MLA and cite a number of works done by him.
"It is wrong to say that he is working only for his caste men. A Muslim youth was beaten up recently by his own supporters and the Raja himself instructed that an FIR should be filed against them. He is like a guardian and takes good care of all," Tripathi said.
Another local Rakesh Tripathi says the BJP has not given ticket to a serious contender against Raja Bhaiya.
Besides the BJP's Sindhuja Mishra, the wife of Shiv Prakash Mishra Senani who had earlier contested the assembly election on a BSP ticket against Raja Bhaiya, the BSP has fielded Mohammad Fahim, a member of the zila panchayat and Congress has given ticket to Yogesh Kumar.
Locals believe that Kunda seat has also become a prestige issue for the SP president following strains in his relationship with Raja Bhaiya after the 2018 Rajya Sabha election when the latter allegedly cross voted in support of the BJP candidate.
