BSP fields Prayagraj division in-charge from Phulpur
Kanshi Ram had used Pal’s house as his office and control room when the former was contesting for the Phulpur seat in 1996.
A retired Territorial Army (TA) personnel, Jagannath Pal is the Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP’s) choice for the Phulpur Lok Sabha seat.
Pal is considered a hard-working cadre of the BSP and will make his Lok Sabha poll debut from where his idol, Kanshi Ram, once fought.
Presently serving as the in-charge of the BSP’s Prayagraj division, Pal has been with the party for over three decades now. He hails from Amarsapur, Manikpur and was greatly influenced by Kanshi Ram’s ideology.
Kanshi Ram, the BSP founder, famously used Pal’s house as his office and control room when the former was contesting for the Phulpur seat in 1996.
Three years after retiring from the TA, Pal, now in his 60s, unsuccessfully contested for the Jhunsi MLA seat as a Bahujan Kranti Dal candidate in 1993. The party later merged with the BSP.
“It is the dream of every BSP worker to see party chief Mayawati as the prime minister. I will contest the polls on the issues of development, employment, education, health and agriculture,” Pal said. He also manages an intermediate college and a public school.
Pal, who hails from the OBC community, was elected as a village head in 1995 and 2005.
The BSP fielded its candidate from Phulpur for the first time in 1989. Beni Madhav Bind contested on BSP ticket but came third in the race. Bind contested on BSP ticket again but secured second place.
In 1996, BSP founder Kanshi Ram contested from Phulpur but lost to the Samajwadi Party candidate. The party’s Kapilmuni Karwaria bagged the seat in 2009, but lost it in the next elections in 2014.
PHOTO: Jagannath Pal (File photo)