Dhananjay Singh’s conviction opens up poll battle in Jaunpur
Unless a higher court stays the conviction, Dhananjay Singh’s poll plans in Jaunpur are effectively dashed
The conviction of former Jaunpur MP and east U.P. strongman Dhananjay Singh is set to influence the politics of this caste-riddled constituency where the BJP has fielded Maharashtra’s former junior home minister Kripa Shankar Singh as its candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Hours after the BJP had named Kripa Shankar, who once was supposedly close to Dhananjay, in its first list of 51 candidates on Saturday, the former MP virtually announced his candidature on the seat. Dhananjay declared, “Saathiyon, taiyyar rahiye, lakshya bas ek ... Lok Sabha 73, Jaunpur ... jeetega Jaunpur, jeetenge hum (friends be ready, only goal is Jaunpur Lok Sabha and its win will be our win) on X.” Kripa Shankar had quit the Congress in 2019 and joined the BJP in 2021.
“Jaunpur will aid BJP’s 400 paar (over 400) seats nationally,” Kripa Shankar had said after being named the party pick on the seat where Samajwadi Party is yet to name its candidate. The SP is contesting the polls in alliance with the Congress.
On Tuesday, two days after Kripa Shankar was named the BJP candidate, an MP/MLA court in Jaunpur convicted Dhananjay and his aide Santosh Vikram Singh in a seven-year-old kidnapping case and, on Wednesday, the court awarded him a seven-year rigorous imprisonment. Unless a higher court stays the conviction, Dhananjay’s poll plans on Jaunpur are effectively dashed, a development that should benefit the BJP.
“I don’t know what is happening,” Dhananjay had said soon after he was arrested following the MP/MLA court’s order.
Contesting as an independent candidate from Malhani in Jaunpur in the 2022 U.P. polls, Dhananjay had got an impressive 68,838 votes. Despite his eventual loss to Samajwadi Party candidate Lucky Yadav, Dhananjay had showcased his clout by pushing the BJP and the BSP below him.
“Now, individuals don’t matter. Irrespective of who contested against the BJP, our candidate would win handsomely,” said Uttar Pradesh minister Girish Yadav, who broke a 42-year record by winning the Jaunpur (Sadar) assembly seat for a second consecutive term in the 2022 state assembly polls.
“Kripa Shankarji was mostly busy in Maharashtra politics and thus back in his birthplace, he has good relations with all, and this would add to BJP’s win margin,” a BJP leader said.
Dhananjay’s supporters, who raised slogans against top BJP leaders soon after the MP/MLA court awarded him a seven-year rigorous imprisonment, point towards his clout and tell how since winning the Jaunpur’s Rari (later Malhani) assembly seat as an independent in 2002, he went on to win the same seat again in 2007 and in 2009 became a Lok Sabha MP too.
But local BJP leaders have their own take on Dhananjay’s “perceived political clout” in Jaunpur.
“Back in 2002, when he first won from Rari, the BJP didn’t contest the seat as it was contested by our then ally RLD which didn’t have much of an impact there. In 2007, he won again but as a JD (U)-BJP candidate. In 2009, he won as an MP on the BSP symbol and got his father elected Raj Deo to contest and win Malhani that he vacated. As for his clout, in 2014, the BJP won despite him polling over 64,000 votes and lost despite him not contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha polls,” a BJP leader explained.
In 2023, his wife Srikala D Singh became the zila panchayat chairman, but BJP leaders added that the party didn’t contest the seat.
“Part of the reason for Dhananjay’s perceived dominance on the seat was due to the secret backing he received from BJP leaders but now the only dynamics that matter is the Modi-Yogi factor and overcoming this formidable combination is no mean thing,” a BJP leader said.