Dinesh Pratap Singh, though a well-known face in Uttar Pradesh politics, is little known in the rest of India. But, the BJP has now given him the responsibility to snatch away Gandhi turf Raebareli – a seat consecutively held by the family with Sonia Gandhi as the incumbent MP.
The saffron party announced Singh’s candidature on Thursday, with less than 24 hours left for the deadline to file nominations for the Lok Sabha elections. But, who is he?
A former Congress MLC, Singh jumped ship in 2018. He was elected as a member of the state legislative council thrice in 2010, 2016 and 2022; but, this time from the BJP. After he was declared as the candidate for Raebareli, he said: “I have even fought against four-time MP Sonia Gandhi, so Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are not important to me. Whichever Gandhi comes to Raebareli, they will lose.”
His confidence does not stem from nothing. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Sonia Gandhi’s victory margin was at least 3.5 lakh votes. But, in the 2019 polls, when Singh stood against her, her margin was nearly halved to just 1.67 lakh votes.
Dinesh Pratap Singh was credited for this feat and the BJP’s top leadership had their eye on 2024, as they plan to repeat an Amethi of 2019 in Raebareli. Smriti Irani, who similarly shrank senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s margin during her first shot in 2014; she went on to become a giant killer, defeating the Gandhi scion in his own turf in 2019.
Influential son of the soil
Singh is a son of the soil, a fact that puts added worry to the Congress that has been toying with the idea of fielding either Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi from the seat. The party, however, has been unable to name anyone so far.
Panchavati dominates the politics of Raebareli. In fact, Singh’s residence is called ‘Panchavati’.
He is a resident of the Gunawar Kamangalpur village, and his family has substantial dominance in the politics of Raebareli. So much so, that from block chief and district panchayat president to MLCs and MLAs, all have chosen to stay at Singh’s house, whenever necessary.
During his stint in the Congress, he had a lot of say in the politics of Raebareli-Amethi, given his proximity to Sonia Gandhi and the trust she reposed in him that made the party make him MLC twice.
Minister in Yogi 2.0, donated crores for Ram Mandir
After his performance against Sonia in 2019, there was a buzz in the state about his decreasing influence in the BJP. But, the saffron party made him an MLC and a minister during Yogi Adityanath’s second tenure, hinting that its eyes were trained on Raebareli in 2024, with or without Sonia.
At present, he is serving as a minister of state (independent charge) for horticulture, agriculture marketing, agriculture foreign trade and agriculture export department in the UP government.
In 2021, as the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was in full swing, Singh made a generous donation of a whopping Rs 1.21 crore to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra for the construction of the temple. He made headlines at the time, and this did not go unnoticed by the BJP leadership, said sources.
Challenging the Gandhi legacy
Rabareli, a seat occupied for four consecutive terms by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, fell vacant after she chose to go to Parliament through the Rajya Sabha this time. While the Congress has not announced candidates for either Amethi or Raebareli, party president Mallikarjun Kharge in a recent interview said there is a “surprise” in store for both seats.
Before Sonia, former PM Indira Gandhi had won from Raebareli thrice. The seat also elected her husband Feroze Gandhi twice in 1952 and 1957 while it was also held by Arun Nehru briefly in the 1980s.
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