Battle for UP: Exchange of candidates creates dissent in parties

Prayagraj (UP), Feb 6 (IANS) Exchange of candidates between parties in the ongoing elections is now creating problems for political parties that have fielded these turncoats.The Samajwadi Party and the BJP, in particular, are facing issues over candidate selection in Prayagraj since both the parties have opted for ‘outsiders’, ignoring the claims of their own party leaders.Bara MLA Ajay Kumar, who quit the BJP on February 2, has entered the poll fray on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket now.The BSP had earlier declared Shiv Prakash as its candidate from Bara but then Ajay Kumar was given preference after cancelling Shiv Prakash’s ticket.Ajay Kumar had revolted in the BJP because his Bara seat was being given to its ally Apna Dal (S). Two of its sitting MLAs Rajamani Kol (Koraon) and Vikramjit Maurya (Phaphamau) have been denied tickets.Aarti Kol, a former zila panchayat member, has been fielded from Koraon (SC) seat and Guru Prasad Maurya from Phaphamau seat. Maurya has previously been a BSP MLA and had later joined the BJP.There is trouble on the Allahabad North seat on which BJP has a sitting MLA Harshvardhan Bajpai. However, the party has yet to declare its candidate from the seat.There is also talk of BJP giving the seats of Karchana and Handia to its ally Nishad Party while handing over the seats of Bara, Pratappur and Soraon to its other ally Apna Dal (S).Devendra Pratap Singh, an advocate from the RSS background, has announced his plan to contest as an independent after Sidharth Nath Singh got the ticket from Allahabad West.Maximum dissent is being seen within the Samajwadi Party (SP).SP leader Vachaspati has switched sides and joined the Apna Dal (S) and entered the poll fray from Bara after SP fielded Ajay Munna from the seat, while party’s former MP from Phulpur Nagendra Singh Patel, is also contesting the polls from Chail seat of Kaushambhi as an Apna Dal (S) candidate.Senior party leaders who are lobbying for tickets are voicing their protest on the social media.Former SP MLA Haji Parvez Tanki, who had sought ticket from Allahabad South, recently held a meeting with hundreds of supporters and raised questions on the party’s policies and ticket distribution. Through the social media, he is raising questions about Raiish Chandra Shukla, the SP candidate from Allahabad South.Babban Dubey, who had claimed ticket from Allahabad South and had even put up posters and banners in his area, is now protesting after being denied a ticket.Similarly, Richa Singh, who was the SP candidate from Allahabad West in 2017 election, is also opposing on Facebook the party’s decision of denying her a ticket. By releasing photos, videos of SP candidate with BJP leaders, questions are being raised over ticket distribution.–IANS amita/skp/