The Congress was dealt a body blow when its official candidate from Gautam Buddh Nagar lok Sabha seat decided to return to BJP. The shocker came on Thursday when Ramesh Chand Tomar, the Congress candidate, met BJP national president Rajnath Singh and renewed his links with the party. Tomar left the fight from Gautam Buddh Nagar seat but its effect is expected to witness on Ghaziabad seat also as he enjoys good support in both regions. Tomar was an old BJP guard winning the lok Sabha polls for four times from Ghaziabad. However, in 2009 he had quit the party to join Congress after he was denied a BJP ticket from Ghaziabad where BJP president Rajnath Singh had contested. With Tomar joining the BJP, there is a huge possibility of Rajput votes polarising in favour of BJP in Gautam Buddh Nagar as well as Ghaziabad as he also belongs to the Rajput community and hails from the same area. There are 2.5 lakh votes of Rajputs in Gautam Buddh Nagar and 1.5 lakh in Ghaziabad that play a major role in deciding the fate of the candidates.
like in other parts of Uttar Pradesh, caste combination always plays a crucial role in deciding the representatives of Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad seats. This time the equation was not in favour of BJP due to candidature of Tomar as a Congress candidate as he was cutting into Rajput votes and urban votes. Parties like Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP) and Aam Aadmi Party too had an edge earlier due to division of these votes but the recent political development has changed the equation in favour of Dr Mahesh Sharma, the BJP candidate from Gautam Buddh Nagar, and General VK Singh, BJP candidate from Ghaziabad completely. Notably, Singh also belong to the Rajput
community and the latest political move would only strengthen his prospects.
Announcing his decision early morning, Tomar said that the country is in deep crisis and only the BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi can save it. “I decided to quit my candidature to strengthen hands of Narendra Modi as he is the only hope this time. I made several consultations with Modi and other
party leaders too who encouraged me for home coming. I will seek votes for BJP candidates in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad to secure their win,” said Tomar.