UP Election 2017: BJP's Dayashankar Singh's wife, Swati, strives to script history in BSP bastion

Sarojini Nagar (Lucknow): After presenting herself as a strong woman face and donning the mantle of Uttar Pradesh BJP women wing chief, Swati Singh has a tough responsibility at hand, to win the Sarojini Nagar Assembly seat which the saffron party has never won. Swati, who hogged limelight when her husband Dayashankar Singh, then state vice president BJP, had made derogatory remarks against Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati and in a tit-for-tat, BSP leaders did the same during their protest. On her campaign trail, Swati vows to fight for ‘samman’ (honour) of women as she did for her own daughter after derogatory remarks were made against her daughter and mother-in-law during a BSP protest last year. “I wanted to contest against Mayawati, who talks of honour of women but did nothing when her workers made remarks against my little daughter. As she is not contesting, my party has given me ticket from this seat and I am working hard,” Swati told PTI. [caption id=“attachment_3268764” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] BJP’s Dayashankar Singh was suspended for derogatory comments against BSP chief Mayawati. PTI[/caption] About the seat, where BJP never won, and has been held by Samajwadi Party (BSP) and BSP candidates during the past decades, a confident Swati said she was working hard and hoped to script a new history by winning the seat. On her taking a plunge in politics after her husband was expelled from the party, Swati said, “I was active Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarti Parishad (ABVP) member and nothing unprecedented has happened. Party has trusted me and given me a responsibility and I will ensure victory.” With Swati jumping in the fray, the fight has become interesting with rebels of BJP and SP also testing their popularity. While SP has given ticket to Anurag Yadav, cousin of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav; sitting SP MLA and minister Sharda Pratap Shukla is contesting as a rebel and is out to queer Anurag’s pitch. BJP rebel Rudra Daman Singh alias Babloo is also in the fray. After being denied ticket, he is contesting as Shiv Sena candidate. Babloo was runners up on the seat in 2012 polls and secured 41,333 votes, much more than BJP candidate Virendra Tiwari, who got only 29,339 votes and finished third. Dayashankar was expelled by his party in July last over use of certain derogatory words against Mayawati. His remarks had triggered a nation-wide outrage. This time he is working hard for his wife’s victory. Anurag, who is brother of SP MP Dharmendra Yadav, is banking on “kaam bolta hai” slogan and trying to make his presence felt. Shukla, on the other hand, is not new in the battle of ballots and is appealing to voters on the basis of his performance as their representative, claiming he has done “a lot for the constituency”. Polling in this constituency will be held in the third phase on 19 February.