BJP’s VK Singh cannot choose Defence, but is a ‘party soldier’
Addressing a media briefing after his unexpected win, former Army Chief General VK Singh reiterated he would implement his local manifesto and bring ambitious projects of national importance to his constituency.
Answering queries on his future probable role as Defence Minister, the Ghaziabad MP said he is as disciplined a party soldier as he was a disciplined Army officer and will follow party diktat.
Dedicating his victory to the people of his constituency, VK Singh spoke to the media at his residence in Raj Nagar on Saturday. “People have voted for me because they see me as a person who is here to serve them, not to rule. I will try my best to implement all the poll promises I made to the people here.”
He resolved to address the issue of traffic congestion saying he’d endeavour to bring the Metro Rail till the district headquarters. Ghaziabad lok Sabha
constituency on Friday threw up its biggest surprise with BJP candidate VK Singh winning by a whopping margin of 5.67 lakh, almost equalling that of PM-designate Narendra Modi in Vadodara.
He received 758,113 ballots against 191,188 votes for his nearest rival and Congress candidate Raj Babbar. Of the 15 candidates, 14, including Raj Babbar, lost their security deposits, as they failed to garner one-sixth of the total votes. Pitted against Congress veteran Raj Babbar and BSP heavyweight Mukul Upadhyay, Singh’s candidature earlier this year had invited a lot of dissent even from BJP party workers, who claimed he was an ‘outsider’.
Singh’s victory also hints at an apparent change in the traditional voting pattern based on caste lines in Ghaziabad. Surprised and delighted at the same time on his record win, he said, “We were expecting to get around 3 lakh votes but more than 7 lakh votes is a big honour for us. I am extremely delighted.” Voters chose Singh over Upadhyay, a Brahmin contesting from the BSP who everyone speculated would cash in on Dalit as well as upper caste votes.