He is a man of his own ways in the unchallenged fiefdom of Kunda in Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. Raghuraj Pratap Singh, popularly known as Raja Bhaiya, has been an MLA for almost 30 years from Kunda but now has bigger dreams — of holding the levers of the next government in Uttar Pradesh, if the numbers get close in UP.
“My party, Jansatta Dal, was formed in 2018 and we are fighting on 18 seats. My party is the only one which has not done any pre-poll alliance with anyone — we believe in the people and we do not want to take the ‘baisakhi’ (support) of any other party and we don’t need it. After elections, whatever situation emerges, we will talk to our supporters and take a decision,” Singh told News18 in a rare interview in Kunda.
In parts of Pratapgarh, Singh is a local hero with massive following amongst the youth. Young boys on motorcycles, who term themselves ‘Raja Bhaiya Youth Brigade’ join his cavalcade when he steps out for a campaign. “Not just youth but women and elders are also with me — ‘Yuvaon ka josh aur bazurgon ka hosh mere saath hai,” he told News18, pointing to crowd in a meeting in Pratapgarh.
Image Transformation
Singh has been a minister in then Samajwadi Party government but fell out with Akhilesh Yadav when the latter entered into an alliance with Mayawati in 2019 who had sent Singh to jail under Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) charges. Recently, Akhilesh had asked, “Who Raja Bhaiya?” when asked if the Samajwadi Party (SP) will tie-up with his party. “I don’t know why Akhilesh has ‘berukhi’ (resentment) for me? You should ask him, you are asking the wrong person. I am not answerable for what he is thinking or saying,” Singh counters.
He insists that he has never supported the BJP too in the assembly or outside and makes light of the law and order issue which the BJP has been trumpeting in these elections. “Law and order incidents happen in every government, what is important is the action that follows. There is no organised crime in Pratapgarh and Kunda. Small incidents keep happening due to personal rivalries,” Singh told News18.
Singh says he has been a legislator since 1993 because of one quality — accessibility. “Development is not the only criteria to win elections. There are candidates who do work in the area but still lose. You have to be accessible too and not spend all your time in Lucknow and Delhi. My people here can meet me anytime,” Singh says. The crowd here nods in unison, saying Singh has always helped them out in their times of distress.
Singh does sound a warning for the BJP on the stray cattle, which are troubling farmers and has become also a poll issue. “There are a lot of problems of farmers here. The stray cattle are an issue — farmers are staying up at night to safeguard their fields. You cannot also kill the cow and eat it. We will give interest-free loans from government to farmers to do fencing of their fields. They presently use anything which is available to protect fields. We will ensure proper fencing,” Singh says.
For the veteran Thakur leader, an image transformation has also happened, with his supporters saying the old saying of ‘Kunda Mein Raja Bhaiya Gunda’ no longer holding true.
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