Farmers Movement Archive

PM Narendra Modi sends out political message to Purvanchal

LUCKNOW: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday turned the spotlight on the politically crucial east UP region, saying with Kushinagar airport taking wings, he has “fulfilled a commitment to the Purvanchal region”, which he represents. Modi is an MP from Varanasi, the nerve centre of east UP. Modi’s statement can be read as a robust indicator to BJP’s focus on firming up its position in the politically imperative Purvanchal, even as the saffron party faces a raging challenge in west UP in the aftermath of farmers’ protests against new farm laws. On October 25, the PM is also scheduled to visit Siddharthnagar, where he will inaugurate seven medical colleges, including Siddharthanagar Medical College named after Jan Sangh founder leader Madhav Prasad Tripathi (Madhav Babu). The other six being in Deoria, Etah, Hardoi, Ghazipur, Mirzapur and Pratapgarh. The PM is also expected to reach Varanasi to inaugurate developmental projects, besides addressing a public rally on the same day. Modi’s reiteration that Kushinagar airport will lend the much-needed thrust to Buddhist tourism circuit was also interpreted as an outreach to Dalits, many of whom embraced Buddhism in east UP. In fact, the ambitious Maitreya project entailing world’s tallest Buddha statue (approximately 500-foot high) was initially conceptualised for Kushinagar, which hugs the border with Nepal — the birthplace of Buddha. The project now entails construction of relatively modest statues in Kushinagar and Bodh Gaya (Bihar). The development, experts said, could potentially help BJP to send out a loud message from Kushinagar to neighbouring Gorakhpur, the political backyard of CM Yogi Adityanath. Sources said, the PM may visit Gorakhpur in the middle of November to inaugurate the fertilizer factory and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Significantly, Kushinagar itself had been a tough political ground for BJP until 2017, when it won four of five assembly seats in the district — Khadda (Jata Shankar Tripathi), Padrauna (Swami Prasad Maurya), Kushinagar (Rajnikant Tripathi) and Hata (Pawan Kumar). The reserved Ramkola seat was bagged by then BJP ally and SBSP candidate Ramanand Baudhh. This was not the case in 2012, when BJP could not win a single seat in the district. Samajwadi Party had then won three seats — Kushinagar (Brahma Shankar Tripathi), Hata (Radhey Shyam) and Ramkola (Purnamasi Dehati). BSP had won Padrauna (Swami Prasad Maurya) while Khadda was won by Congress candidate Vijay Dubey. Tamkuhi Raj and Fazil Nagar assembly seats, represented by Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ajay Kumar Lallu and BJP lawmaker Ganga, respectively, also straddle Kushinagar. They are, otherwise, part of Deoria parliamentary seat comprising Deoria, Pathardeva and Rampur Karkhana assembly seats.

The Times of India

2021-10-21

Lucknow