Gorakhpur Sadar: Chandrashekhar Azad to take on Yogi at his home-turf

Speaking to The Indian Express, Azad said, “For the last five years, I have been on the ground fighting against the oppressive policies of this government. The Opposition should have fielded their strongest candidates against Yogi Adityanath. I am not afraid to go against him. Had Bhagat Singh been afraid, India wouldn’t have got independence. I will fight with integrity… And I have the blessings of many families with me.”

Talking to mediapersons in Meerut earlier in the day, Azad said, “I was waiting for his (CM’s) constituency to be finalised by his bosses before declaring my candidature.”

“It’s going to be a direct fight between the Mandal (non-BJP forces) and the Kamandal (BJP and alliance partners) in Uttar Pradesh, and the victory this time will be for those who represent the Mandal. We have formed a new alliance, which is a rainbow of very small political outfits, but in their respective areas, leaders of the new outfits have a sizeable presence. This will deliver a major blow to the ruling party,” he said.

The Gorakhpur Sadar seat, which will go to polls on March 3, has been a BJP stronghold for over three decades. In the elections of 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1996, BJP’s Shiv Pratap Shukla was elected MLA. In 2002, he was defeated by Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, an Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha candidate supported by Adityanath. He later joined the BJP and is a fourth-term MLA from Gorakhpur Sadar.

Azad, a lawyer-turned-activist, said the new Samajik Samavesh Gathbandhan (Social Assimilation Alliance), comprising ASP and other smaller parties, would field candidates in all the 403 constituencies.

“We have come together to put an end the the dynastic politics being played by all the major parties be it the BJP, Samajwadi Party, BSP or the Congress,” said the ASP chief.

His alliance talks with Akhilesh came a cropper over differences on seat allotment. Sources said Azad wanted more than a dozen seats while Akhilesh was willing to share only a couple. Azad accused Akhilesh of “insulting me” and “sidelining the Scheduled Castes”.

“Taking forward the ideology of Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and Kanshiram sahib for ‘Bahujan Hitaay – Bahujan Sukhaay’, the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshiram) announces Chandra Shekhar Aazad as candidate from Gorakhpur Sadar (322) seat,” said Mohd Aqib, ASP (K) election in-charge for Gorakhpur.