Having wrested the Saharanpur seat for BJP after 16 years in the polarised Lok Sabha election of 2014, former MLA and MP Raghav Lakhanpal emerged as a leader in 2014 after the murder of his father, who was also a member of the BJP. Having lost the seat to Fazlur Rehman of the BSP, which was contesting in alliance with SP in 2019, the soft-spoken leader has been given the charge of winning back the seat for the BJP, even as anger among Rajputs and murmurs of dissent among other Hindu caste groups may hurt his chances in this election. Speaking to Outlook's Rakhi Bose, Lakhanpal says he has the support of all sides and expresses confidence in his party, predicting another BJP sweep.
Rakhi Bose with Tribhuvan Tiwari
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Rakhi Bose with Tribhuvan Tiwari
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NewsTranscript
00:00 We are in Saharanpur of Uttar Pradesh where the battle for 2024 Lok Sabha elections has
00:09 heated up.
00:10 Today we are sitting with the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Mr. Raghav Lakanpal.
00:14 He has been an MP from this seat before and is very well versed with the politics of Saharanpur.
00:19 Let us find out from Mr. Lakanpal, what are the biggest issues in Saharanpur that we are
00:24 seeing this time and why is Saharanpur such an important constituency for the party?
00:29 Every constituency is important but Saharanpur has its significance because it borders with
00:34 three states and it is seat number one of UP.
00:38 It is a very important trading point and it has always been a hotbed of political activity
00:48 as well as a lot of business, lot of activism.
00:53 So Saharanpur has its significance.
00:56 What is the biggest voting factor in Saharanpur?
00:58 From what we understand, its caste, its religion, what got into you is the factor that people
01:03 vote on actually?
01:06 There is a certain section that would prefer to vote on caste lines but I think that has
01:11 changed now with the Prime Minister's constant efforts to uplift the weaker sections of society,
01:20 financially weak and otherwise backward.
01:24 I think it is going to be a game changer this election because people are going to go all
01:30 out to support the Prime Minister.
01:34 This seat was held by the BJP before earlier and in 2019 it went to the SP and BSP, SP
01:39 already combined.
01:40 What is the difference in BJP's strategy this time to take the seat?
01:44 Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, that is our plank.
01:47 That is what we have worked on and that is what is going to make us win this seat by
01:51 a huge margin this time.
01:52 It is really going to be very different this election.
01:55 We are going to win by a huge margin.
01:59 This is a minority dominated seat.
02:01 This is a minority dominated seat.
02:04 Both the Congress as well as the BSP are fielded minority candidates.
02:07 Is that something that the BJP is worried about?
02:10 No, we don't really look at those things.
02:13 There is a thing called political arithmetic as they call it Samikaran in Hindi.
02:19 But I don't think that is going to matter in this particular election.
02:23 This election is all about the work that we have done.
02:26 The Honorable Prime Minister, the Honorable Chief Minister, they put their entire efforts
02:35 into ensuring that schemes that are specifically laid down for the poor actually benefit them.
02:42 So that is what people are seeing now and they are going to vote.
02:46 They are not going to look at caste and other things.
02:49 They are going to vote on the basis of that.
02:51 This region saw violence clashes in 2017 as well as a little bit in 2018 which were caste based clashes.
02:58 What is the situation now between the communities?
03:00 What is the social fabric right now in Sahar?
03:02 No, no, everything is very peaceful.
03:04 And ever since Yogi ji has been Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh, we have not really had communal tensions.
03:13 We have not had curfews.
03:15 Everything has been very peaceful here.
03:18 People want to go about and do their work and do their business.
03:22 They want employment opportunities.
03:25 They want to carry on with whatever they are doing, with their jobs.
03:29 So, law and order situation has really, really improved post 2017 in UP.
03:36 You have also adopted a village, the Shapirpur village which at that time was at the epicenter of the violence.
03:42 What kind of work has been done in Shapirpur by you?
03:44 Look, Shapirpur, we adopted right before the Lok Sabha elections.
03:48 And then I couldn't win that election.
03:53 But I adopted this village called Satpura.
03:56 And it was, it's in a very backward region.
03:59 And it's very dependent on, you know, what nature gives it.
04:05 So, we ensured that all, a water tank was made, water supply was ensured.
04:12 Roads were constructed within the village.
04:15 Many other works that were done, even in fact I visited that village about a week back.
04:20 And they were all still very happy.
04:22 So, I told them, I said, there's still more to be done.
04:24 And we'll do it together.
04:25 Right.
04:26 Just one last question.
04:27 How is the Vatikanta Party going to ensure safe campaigning this time and safe elections this time?
04:31 What is your strategy for that?
04:32 Like it does every time.
04:34 I think we put all the systems into place.
04:38 Honorable Modi ji and Honorable Home Minister Amit Shah ji are extremely meticulous when it comes to ensuring that things are done systematically.
04:47 So, the election commission in itself, I think has got its thing in order.
04:55 So, everything will go very well.
04:57 That was Mr. Lakanpal with us.
05:00 Stay tuned with Outlook for more on elections from Uttar Pradesh.
05:03 Thank you.
05:04 (dramatic music)
05:06 (dramatic music)