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The 51-foot statue was unveiled in West UP’s Moradabad.

Lucknow:

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath unveiled a statue of Jat leader and former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh on Saturday, in a move to win over the state’s Jat community ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The 51-foot statue was unveiled in West UP’s Moradabad, an area with a strong Jat community presence. With just months to go before the big polls, the BJP is seeking the support of the community, which has in the past, sided with the Samajwadi Party and its alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) Alliance — a party headed by Chaudhary Charan Singh’s grandson.

The belt has always posed a challenge for the Bhartiya Janta Party because of its high Jat and Muslim voter composition. In the 2019 Lok Sabha Polls, BJP lost 16 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. Out of these, seven seats were lost from western UP, all seats in the Moradabad division.

The party has since tried to influence the Jat voters but have failed to make a mark. The controversial farm laws were rolled back and Moradabad Jat leader Bhupendra Chaudhary was appointed the UP state president ahead of the 2022 UP Assembly polls. But the move did little to the allay the resentment among the community.

In over 25 assembly seats in the division, BJP managed to secure a win on 11 seats with the help of ally Apna Dal (Sone Lal) while the Samajwadi Party-RLD alliance registered a victory on 14 seats.

While addressing a Kisan Maha Sammelan on the birth anniversary of Chaudhary Charan Singh, Yogi Adityanath said, “According to Chaudhary sahab, the path to India’s prosperity passes through the fields and barns. He believed that an aware and empowered rural population is the foundation of the largest democracy. Chaudhary Charan Singh worked to bring positive changes in the lives of farmers during his term.”

Ahead of his visit, the RLD, a member of the opposing INDIA bloc, hit back by stating that the BJP “has insulted the farmers”. “If BJP respects Chaudhary Saheb, then give him Bharat Ratna and make his 12 Tughlaq Marg residence a memorial. During farmers’ movement, the BJP insulted the farmers & has insulted the players,” Anil Dubey, a party spokesperson said.