NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Durvijay Singh Shakya as its candidate from the Badaun Lok Sabha seat, replacing the incumbent MP Sanghmitra Maurya. Shakya has his roots in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), and by fielding a local candidate, the BJP has suppressed the outsider candidate tag from itself. Shakya will lock horns against Shivpal Yadav’s son, Aditya Yadav, who has been announced as the Samajwadi Party’s candidate, replacing his veteran father this election.
Badaun has been a stronghold of the SP. From 1996 to 2014, SP held this seat except in 2019 when the BJP broke this dominance. BJP’s Sanghmitra Maurya defeated SP candidate Dharmendra Yadav by a small margin of approximately 18,000 votes in 2014. Bahujan Samaj Party has not been able to enter the race here. The BSP has fielded Mohammad Irfan Saifi, which can disbalance the Muslim Yadav equation in favour of the Samajwadi Party.
The Badaun Lok Sabha constituency comprises five assembly segments: Gunnaur, Bisauli (SC), Sahaswan, Bilsi, and Badaun. With a total of 19 lakh voters, Badaun has the highest number of Yadav voters. The Yadav community comprises approximately 4 lakh voters here. There are also over 3 lakh Muslim voters, 2.75 lakh non-Yadav OBCs, and 1.75 lakh Scheduled Caste voters. Additionally, there are 1.25 lakh Vaishya and Brahmin voters in the Badaun seat.
Dipanshu Yadav, a Delhi University student who belongs to Badaun, said that this time the BJP has fielded the right candidate, who is a grassroots worker and has held various posts in student politics too. But given the fact that Aditya Yadav is part of a political lineage, he enjoys support from the Yadav community. If the BJP defeats Aditya, it will upset a seasoned politician like Shivpal Yadav. Hence, he’s campaigning for his son. This will be a great test Samajwadi Party too.