Though politically written off, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh appears to have pushed behind both the BJP and Samajwadi Party in the seven Assembly constituencies of Bulandshahr, with his party Jan Kranti Party being seen in direct contest against the Congress-RLD combine.
While Mr Singh had ensured easy sailing for SP on at least four Lok Sabha seats in this region in the 2009 parliamentary polls, the former poster boy of the saffron party was left in the lurch by the SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav just on the eve of tabling of the Liberhan Commission report in Parliament.
While the Congress-RLD combine is banking on the Jat-Muslim consolidation, Mr Singh appears to be giving enough trouble for leading political parties due to his hold over the numerically strong Lodh voters. Though the BJP is counting on sadhvi Uma Bharti to swing the Lodh vote in favour of the saffron party, she appears to have made little headway in Bulandshahr area. Mr Singh’s party is seen as leading contender in Diwai, Anupshahr and Syana Assembly constituencies. Though BJP is counting on Bulandshahr city Assembly seat for its reputation of voting on communal pattern with caste equations favouring it, Mr Singh’s presence is harming the saffron party also there.
Mr Singh’s son Raju Bhaiyaa, who was a leading campaigner for the SP in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, is contesting from the Diwai Assembly seat and is pitted against Guddu Pandit of the SP. In Anupshahar, Mr Singh’s party appears to be in direct contest with the BSP. Sikandarabad Assembly seat appears to be set for direct contest between the BSP and Congress’ Jeetendra Singh, whose son recently married one of the daughters of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.