UP Election 2022: Azad Samaj Party's Chandra Shekhar Aazad To Contest Against Yogi Adityanath From Gorakhpur Seat
Chandra Shekar Aazad has declared that he will fight from the Gorakhpur constituency as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is contesting from the same seat.
New Delhi: In an interesting turn of events in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections, Aazad Samaj Party (Bhim Army) chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad has decided to contest from Gorakhpur constituency,
Aazad has declared that he will fight from the Gorakhpur (urban) constituency as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is contesting from the same seat which is his home turf.
Taking forward the ideology of Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and Kanshiram sahib for 'Bahujan Hitaay - Bahujan Sukhaay', the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshiram) announced Chandra Shekhar Aazad as candidate from Gorakhpur Sadar (322) seat, the party said in a statement on social media.
ASP (K)'s national core committee member Mohammad Aqib confirmed the development to PTI. He said the registered name of the party is Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshiram).
BJP announced last week that Yogi Adityanath will be contesting from the Gorakhpur constituency in the upcoming UP polls. He will be the second leader to contest from the district as a Chief Minister after Tribhuvan Narayan Singh, who lost in 1971.
Singh had contested from Maniram assembly seat of the Gorakhpur district while being a Chief Minister. Gorakhpur is the hometown of Adityanath. He had been the MP from Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat since 1998 until he became the chief minister in 2017.
It will be interesting to note if Chandrashekar Azad will be able to make an impact in Yogi's home turf. However, according to ABP News sources, Azad has claimed that the Dalit vote of BSP has not shifted to the Bhim army (Azad Samaj Party Kanshiram) and people will come out in full support to vote for the leader.
The 35-year-old lawyer-turned-activist had co-founded the Dalit rights outfit Bhim Army and he is its national president.
He launched the ASP (K) in March 2020 and is the party president.
Gorakhpur Sadar goes to polls on March 3 during the sixth phase of elections in UP. The results will be declared on March 10.
Aazad was until recently in talks with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party for a tie-up to contest the polls but was offered only two seats by it.
Feeling thus shortchanged, Aazad had on Tuesday said his party would no longer approach the SP for alliance as it was a matter of self respect , but added he was open to finding new allies for the polls.
The flamboyant leader has often said his fight is against the ideology of the BJP and the RSS.
History of Gorakhpur seat
Gorakhpur Urban constituency has been a citadel of the right-wing forces since 1967.
A history of the constituency shows that Congress represented the seat in the Uttar Pradesh assembly continuously for three times starting from 1952.
In 1967 the seat was won by the nominee of Bhartiya Jan Sangh, the earlier incarnation of the BJP and in successive years till 1977 it was with the Jan Sangh.
After the formation of the BJP, the constituency went into its kitty and continues to remain with them.
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