AGRA: RLD chief, Jayant Chaudhry, has outplayed his ‘rebel’ party candidate, Yogesh Nahuwar, who had refused to withdraw his candidature from Maant constituency in Mathura after the seat was allotted to the party’s ally, Samajwadi Party, by allotting his party symbol to SP’s prospective candidate’s wife. The RLD chief took this decision on the last day of the filling of nomination papers for the first phase of polls on Friday.
Nahuwar had earlier announced that he would withdraw his nomination only if RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary or his wife, Charu, contested election from the constituency. The trouble between the allies arose after both the parties fielded their respective candidates for the seat. Though Chaudhary had directed Nahuwar to withdraw, he had refused to do so and had later put the condition of stepping down only if the former or his wife decide to contest.
With this new twist, besides Nahuwar, who no longer remains the RLD’s official candidate, SP’s Sanjay Lathar, and his wife, Babita Lathar, the new RLD candidate are now in the fray. The final candidate would now be known only after the withdrawal.
If Samajwadi Party leaders are to be believed, the game plan is that while Nahuwar’s nomination be rejected, as he is no longer the party’s official candidate, Babita will withdraw her nomination papers, paving the way for her husband to contest the seat as the SP-RLD candidate.
Earlier in the day, Nahuwar said that it was unfortunate that the alliance, despite knowing that he had lost the last assembly elections by a margin of only 432 votes, were asking him to withdraw his candidature. “I will not withdraw my nomination in any case until Jayant or his wife contest from here. If the party doesn’t want me to contest the election from party symbol, they can dismiss my nomination on their own,” he said, adding that Jayant Chaudhary himself had issued the party symbol to him and had asked him to contest elections.
Nahuwar is a farmers’ leader in Mathura and had actively participated in the recent agitation against the centre’s three contentious farm laws, in Mathura. He had gone to prison for three months and was released recently.
SP candidate, Dr Sanjay Lathar is a MLC and also the state spokesperson of the party. He had unsuccessfully contested the 2012 by-polls after RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary vacated the seat.
The scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on January 24, while names can be withdrawn till January 27.
