Election tempo rises in Gautam Buddh Nagar as candidates file nominations

Prominent among them were Mahesh Sharma from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Arvind Singh Chauhan from the Congress and Satveer Nagar representing the SP-BSP alliance. 
BJP candidate Mahesh Sharma (centre) gestures after filing his nomination for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, in Noida on Friday | express photo
BJP candidate Mahesh Sharma (centre) gestures after filing his nomination for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, in Noida on Friday | express photo

GREATER NOIDA: The Lok Sabha election tempo picked up in Gautam Buddh Nagar (GBN) on Friday, as star candidates from the district filed their nomination papers. Prominent among them were Mahesh Sharma from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Arvind Singh Chauhan from the Congress and Satveer Nagar representing the SP-BSP alliance. Sharma is the sitting MP from the seat and is a Union Minister. Considered to be close to BJP bigwigs including LK Advani, and Rajnath Singh, Sharma — a doctor by profession — owns the Kailash group of hospitals. The 58-year old has been a resident of Noida for more than three decades though he is a native of Rajasthan. Sharma has been a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh member since he was a teenager.

Fielded as a Lok Sabha candidate from GBN in 2009, he could bag only 2.29 lakh votes against the BSP’s Surendra Nagar (2.45 lakh votes). But in the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, he defeated the BSP’s Omdutt Sharma by a wide margin. He was again fielded in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. This time, Sharma, riding the Modi wave, defeated SP’s Narendra Bhati by nearly 2 lakh votes. 

However, Last week, when Sharma visited rural areas, specifically Mirzapur village in Dankaur district, he was told to go back and that that he had done nothing for the villages. Congress candidate Chauhan on the other hand, said the biggest issue GBN is facing is unemployment. “More than two lakh educated youth having professional degrees are unemployed. I will address this issue besides implementing Swaminathan Committee’s recommendations for farmers,” he said. Crime against women, waste management, pollution and problems of the common man would also be on his agenda, he promised. 

SP-BSP candidate Nagar is from Greater Noida’s Atta Gujran village, located next to the Budh International Circuit. He works as a real estate consultant and is contesting an election for the first time. “I promise to address farmers’ issues and lawlessness in the area,” he said. 

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