MORADABAD, Jan 28: Sambhal, a sleepy little town in western Uttar Pradesh, is set to witness what might turn out to be a bloody and violent battle between two Yadav giants in the ensuing mid-term polls.In a move which took even close associates of Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav by surprise, controversial western UP don Dharam Pal Yadav filed his nomination papers here today as the Jantantrik Bahujan Samaj Party candidate for the Sambhal Lok Sabha seat.
The BJP, ever on the lookout for a pawn to checkmate Mulayam, quickly allotted him its party symbol.
What took most people by surprise was that D P Yadav, Sambhal's representative in the dissolved Lok Sabha, had rejoined SP after quitting BSP on January 6 this year. In these days of shifting ideologies, when politicians are accustomed to changing their political affiliations, he was filing his nomination papers on the BJP symbol.The constituency, which has a 38 per cent Yadav population, has never sent anyone other than a Yadav to theLok Sabha. It also has a sizeable Muslim population, and it was perhaps this calculation that prompted Mulayam to file his nomination papers from Sambhal by overlooking the claims of D P Yadav.
Mulayam had won the previous Lok Sabha election from Mainpuri in central UP. Unsure of regaining the seat this time, he decided to field former Union Minister Balram Singh Yadav there instead.
Accompanied by slogan-shouting supporters, the two Yadav stalwarts arrived at the Moradabad collectorate. Mulayam addressed his followers from a hurriedly-erected platform outside the venue for the filing of nomination papers for the Sambhal Lok Sabha constituency. Before he could finish his speech, in which he targeted the Congress for trying to appease the Muslims, D P Yadav arrived there accompanied by a bigger crowd. The crowd was armed with saffron and green flags, BJP banners and guns.
Shouts of ``Atal Bihari-D P Yadav, Zindabad Zindabad,'' were followed by cries of ``Jai Sri Ram, Ho Gaya Kaam'' and ``Raj Tilak kikaro taiyari, Aa rahen hain Atal Bihari.'' By this time, the Moradabad collectorate had started resembling a battlefield, with the rivals coming face to face. People climbed atop adjoining walls and roofs of adjoining houses to witness the impending duel.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
