The Bharatiya Janata Party said on Saturday afternoon that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will contest next month’s parliamentary elections in the Gorakhpur (city) seat as it released its first list of candidates.
Yogi’s deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya will contest for the Sirathu seat in Prayagraj district.
Voting for the Gorakhpur (city) seat, which is the stronghold of the Chief Minister and voted him for the Lok Sabha for five consecutive terms before 2017, is the sixth and penultimate phase to take place on March 3 .
“The decision was made after careful consideration… The final decision (made) was made by the top leadership of the party,” federal minister Damendra Pradhan told reporters.
“Yogiji said, ‘I will compete in whatever seat the party asks me to do’…it was the party’s decision,” Mr Pradhan said, dismissing speculation that Yogi had been insisting on competing from Gorakhpur. The source said he preferred to start the fight from Gorakhpur rather than start over in a new constituency.
Minutes after the BJP announced that Yogi Adityanath would compete with Gorakhpur, Samajwadi party leader Akhilesh Yadav slammed him, saying: “I like that the BJP has sent him (the chief minister) to Gorakhpur. Yogi should stay there… … He didn’t have to come from there.”
There was earlier speculation that the chief minister – who has never contested parliamentary elections before – could run from one of the two temple towns – Ayodhya or Mathura.
This comes after the BJP’s core group expressed interest in sending Yogi from those seats, especially after the eastern part of the state was seen as deviating from the party.
Sources said Fielding Yogi, from Ayodhya, will examine many options as the ongoing construction of the Ram temple has boosted the seat’s political profile for the ruling party.
Complete News Source : NDTV
