Uttar Pradesh elections: Union minister SP Baghel blames Samajwadi Party for attack on him, says no constituency is its bastion | Lucknow News – Times of India

LUCKNOW: A day after his convoy was attacked by unidentified miscreants in MainpuriBJP MP and Union minister of state SP Singh Baghelwho is contesting against SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Karhalsaid that the assault has only exposed the “true colors” of his key political opponent.
Speaking exclusively to TOI, an injured Baghel squarely blamed SP for orchestrating the brazen attack out of sheer “frustration for not being allowed to perpetuate their criminal intent” under the ruling BJP.
Baghel said that the attack has only strengthened him and his party’s resolve to not allow Akhilesh a cakewalk in Karhal.
“If I win from Karhal I will retain it. I will vacate the Agra Lok Sabha seat (won in 2019) and even resign from the ministry,” he said, insisting that the SP leadership should not forget that even Akhilesh’s wife Dimple got defeated from Kannauj. “His two cousins, Dharmendra and Akshay Yadavtoo, tasted defeat in Badaun and Firozabad in 2019 Lok Sabha elections,” said Baghel.
The former personal security officer of former CM and SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, Baghel said it would be wrong to say that the “janaadhaar” (vote base) of Mulayam has completely shifted towards Akhilesh.
“He (Akilesh) might be having admirers but not voters,” he said, asserting that Mulayam’s blessings were still with him.
“The SP understands this and has therefore deployed its top leadership including party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav in Karhal,” he said.
Baghel taunted Akhilesh for claiming that he won’t campaign in Karhal and would instead come to collect his election certificate.
“We have already made him and his party feel the heat,” he said. The Union minister said that he has never hesitated in contesting against Yadav chieftains. He had earlier challenged Akhilesh in Firozabad in 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Baghel, then with BSP, however, had lost by 67,000 votes.
A byelection was necessitated in Firozabad after Akhilesh vacated the seat to retain Kannauj. This time, his wife Dimple contested from Firozabad. Baghel chipped in again as a BSP candidate, while Congress fielded Raj Babbar. Even as Baghel cornered over 2 lakh votes, Raj Babbar won the seat defeating Dimple, leaving the SP brass completely disconcerted.
Mayawati rewarded Baghel by appointing him to Rajya Sabha in 2010. But just before his tenure was to complete in 2014, Baghel jumped ship and joined BJP. He then again contested for Lok Sabha from Firozabad—this time against senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav’s son Akshay but lost by around 1.14 lakh votes.
Baghel’s persistence brought him another chance in 2017 which he successfully availed by winning from Tundla reserved seat in Firozabad on a BJP ticket. He was inducted in the Yogi Adityanath government as a cabinet minister.
Two years later, in 2019, Baghel was propped as a BJP candidate from Agra reserved seat for Lok Sabha, replacing Dalit leader Ram Shankar Katheria. Baghel defeated SP-backed BSP candidate Manoj Kumar Soni by a margin of over 2.1 lakh votes. On July 7, 2021, he was inducted in the Narendra Modi Cabinet.

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