GORAKHPUR: Political maneuvers and posturing with each passing day are turning the election for Gorakhpur Urban constituency even more interesting after coming to limelight with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath filing his nomination papers for the seat.
Though few doubt a smooth sail for CM Yogi, speculations of new electoral equations started doing the rounds when the Samajwadi Party candidate Shubhawati Shukla took blessings of two prominent BJP leaders of the area.
Shubhawati is the widow of Upendra Shukla, who worked dedicatedly for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) all his life and held important positions in the party. Shubhawati and her two sons joined Samajwadi Party recently and accused BJP of not caring for them after her husband's demise.
Before starting the door-to-door campaigning on Monday, Shubhawati took blessings of former Union minister of state for finance Shiv Pratap Shukla and posted pictures on her Facebook account while thanking him.
Shiv Pratap Shukla, a Rajya Sabha MP, is seen as an influential Brahmin face in Purvanchal. He was MLA from Gorakhpur in 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1996 but in 2002, Radha Mohan Das Agarwal defeated him on Hindu Mahasabha ticket with Yogi's backing and support. On Tuesday, Shubhawati took blessings of former BJP MP and retired Lieutenant General Prakash Mani Tripathi at his Civil Lines residence in Gorakhpur and again posted the photos on Facebook.
"BJP needs support of Brahmins in Gorakhpur Urban seat which has 19% Brahmins, 9% Rajputs, 8% Kayasthas, 9% Sainthwars, 18% Vaishyas, 17% Muslims, 4% Yadavs, 11% Nishads and 5% Dalits," said an analyst.
