The Tehri lok Sabha constituency is witnessing a direct fight between sitting BJP MP Mala Rajya laxmi Shah and Saket Bahuguna of Congress. However, the dedicated workers and cadre of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are also engaging in an intensive campaign for their candidate Sheesh Pal Choudhary. The BSP candidate is the general secretary of the party and also holds a Master of Arts degree in Hindi literature. Choudhary has grown within the ranks of the cadre based BSP and mentions farming as his occupation. He took time from his busy schedule and talked with Gajendra Singh Negi on the issues and his chances in the forthcoming elections. Excerpts:
What are the issues which you are giving more emphasis on in this electionIJ
I am focusing on all the issues which directly affect the general public like development and education. The issue of social disparity is still relevant in the State as untouchability prevails in many parts. The recent incidence of Bajpur where a woman of Dalit community was stopped from performing puja in a temple reflects the sorry state of affairs in Uttarakhand. My focus is to strengthen the neglected sections of society and for this they should come under one platform.
What’re your chances of victory and what are the caste and other factors on which you are bankingIJ
I’m confident of putting up a very good show and would surprise many. The result of election would reflect my effort. There are about 3.0 lakh Dalit and 2.50 lakh minority voters in Tehri and both these communities are natural supporters of BSP. Further, the fact that BSP has nominated two Muslims out of five parliamentary seats in Uttarakhand is driving the community towards the BSP.
How will you convince the upper castes to vote for BSPIJ
Our party is getting support from all sections of society and many Thakurs and Brahmins are actively campaigning for the BSP. My team also has many prominent people belonging to the upper castes.
There’s a general belief that you will do more damage to the Congress than the BJP. What is the substance in such speculationIJ
It is perfectly true. The support base of my party used to be the supporters of the Congress party but they have now understood that the Congress has only used them as vote bank. It is unfortunate that in last three general elections the BSP candidates from Tehri were managed by the Congress party. I would give a fitting reply to Congress this time and would definitely mar the chances of Congress.
The mountainous parts of the State have large Dalit population, but the BSP is still not able to create a support base for it. Why the elephant of BSP is failing in its effort to scale the hillsIJ
It’s true that BSP is not able to create a support base despite favourable environment. The party has failed to create grass root leadership in the hills but now we have realised the mistake and have started an intensive programme to develop the local leadership in the mountainous areas.