Rajendra Thakur is hopeful of profitable the Meeting election as an Unbiased candidate from Arki constituency of Himachal Pradesh on November 12. His expectations are usually not unrealistic. Hundreds of ladies voters from Arki might propel Rajendra, popularly referred to as Raju, to victory on the poll.
Son of former minister Hari Das Thakur and a staunch loyalist of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, Rajendra has devised a singular technique to win over ladies voters – he takes them on pilgrimages to Haridwar and Rishikesh.
At rallies organised by Rajendra in Arki and Darlaghat on October 25, the day he filed his nomination, ladies outnumbered males.
Rajendra mentioned that he despatched the primary batch of ladies on a pilgrimage on his birthday on July 2. Since then, greater than 8,500 ladies have toured these holy locations on buses despatched by Rajendra to all panchayats in Arki to select them. The three-day pilgrimage is freed from value and consists of meals.
Earlier than they board the bus, the ladies give their telephones and Aadhaar numbers to Rajendra’s group, thus serving to it stay in contact with them.
The ladies have additionally been assured that after the Meeting elections, they might be despatched on a pilgrimage to Vrindavan too. “Even when I lose the election, I’ll take them on a pilgrimage to Vrindavan from January 26,” Rajendra says.
Of the 95,788 registered voters in Arki constituency, practically half (47,046) are ladies.
To win the seat, a candidate wants at the least 25,000 votes, a tough feat for Rajendra given the efforts being made by the 2 large contenders, the Congress and BJP.
Rajendra says he’s anticipating the vast majority of ladies voters to gravitate in the direction of him. “They are going to be current on the cubicles on the day of voting and also will encourage households within the villages to vote for me,” he says, including that if he wins, he’ll provide his help to the social gathering that kinds the federal government.
“If each the Congress and BJP win 33 seats every, then I’d turn into the Chief Minister,” he laughs.
Kanta Verma, who went on a pilgrimage paid for by Rajendra, says he’s the one politician who takes ladies to holy locations and ensures that they don’t should spend on something throughout such journeys. “Why ought to I not vote for him? Earlier, solely males can be provided items reminiscent of liquor throughout election time,” she argues.
Rajendra, by the way, is believed to have pitched in to make sure Virbhadra Singh’s win in 2017 when the previous chief minister had left his constituency, Shimla Rural, to his son Vikramaditya Singh and contested from Arki.
After Virbhadra Singh’s loss of life in 2021, Rajendra needed to contest the bypoll however the Congress denied him a ticket, fielding its official candidate, Sanjay Awasthi, as an alternative. Sanjay ultimately received the bypoll.