SP wants to ride on development factor to retain Etawah seats

Etawah, UP, Apr 3 (UNI) The ruling Samajwadi Party is using development as the main plank to retain the four UP assembly seats in Eatawah -- the home district of party supremo and Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.

For the SP, retaining the four seats in the district and increasing the victory margin is important. ''Retaining the seats and increasing the margin is important as the CM himself is contesting from one of the seats,'' said Pradip Yadav, who is looking after the Bharthana seat from where the CM is contesting.

The SP's major issue for campaigning remains development. With Etawah being dubbed as 'model district of a modern state', the SP leadership claims that people would vote for the party to maintain the tempo, of progress.

''Caste factor should not come handy for the Opposition as people understand the meaning of development,'' added Vinod Kumar Yadav 'Kakka', the sitting SP MLA from Bharthana.

But the Opposition is not ready to allow the SP to utilise on the development factor. ''Power and development in the district has been limited to a selected few who are close to the ruling party...the common man still suffers,'' claimed Dr Raj Bahadur Yadav, BJP candidate from Jaswant Nagar assembly seat.

''The voter of today is not limited to an assembly seat or a district, he keeps in mind the interest of the entire state...the electorate understands who would actually take the state on the path of development,'' Ajay Yadav, the Congress candidate from Bharthana seat, claimed. He said the voters would look at the overall development of UP and their future in the state and would not vote only on the basis of development of a district.

Political parties understand the value of the home district of the CM, and consider it is important to at least wrest one seat from the ruling party as part of political oneupmanship. Several political bigwigs have been addressing a series of public meetings in the four constituencies of Etawah. BJP leader Kalyan Singh, Mr Mulayam Singh, SP general secretary Amar Singh have so far hald rallies here. AICC member and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi is all set to address a meeting at Bharthana today as part of his road show.

AICC president and Rae Bareli MP Sonia Gandhi would address a meeting in Etawah tomorrow. ''The campaigning is such a low key affair that if politicians do not address people, one can easily forget that elections are due on April 7,'' said a BSP worker in Etawah city.

The four assembly seats of Etawah are: Bharthana, Jaswant Nagar, Etawah (Sadar) and Lakhna. Political parties have ensured that the prevailing caste equations in the four constituencies are kept in mind while declaring candidates.

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