Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and party candidate from Deoria parliamentary constituency, Kalraj Mishra, said he wants to serve the people of the parliamentary constituency, which was like a home-place to him.
"I am attached and familiar to Deoria very much. There are some allegations that I am an outsider. How I can be an outsider when I had started my public life from this place," Mishra said during a road show in Deoria here on Tuesday. He claimed that he started his political career from Deoria as a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) pracharak. "I toured almost all the blocks and villages on motorcycle. I was even jailed for 19 months during emergency here," the BJP leader said.
It was Mishra’s first visit to Deoria after his candidature was announced from this parliamentary constituency in eastern UP. His candidature created a storm as supporters of former state president Surya Pratap Shahi staged protest. Shahi and a former MP Prakash Mani Tripathi were seeking ticket from this constituency. It was expected that Mishra’s visit would be greetd by protests and black flags.
Mishra tried to douse the flame of rebellion and said that he would win from this lok Sabha seat with the support of the people and work for their betterment of the region. Earlier in the day, a youth supporter of the BJP leader Surya Pratap Shahi poured kerosene over him and attempted to set himself afire to protest against Kalraj's candidature. Police has arrested the youth and lodged a case in this connection.