Will win because people are voting for development and Modi-ji: Kripashankar

Kripashankar Singh once a prominent North Indian face of the Congress in Mumbai is contesting the general election on a BJP ticket from his hometown Jaunpur a crucial Lok Sabha seat Gangster Dhananjay Singhrsquos wife Srikala Reddy was originally being fielded as the Bahujan Samaj Party BSP candidate for JaunpurHowever the party later withdrew her nomination and gave the ticket to incumbent MP Shyam Singh Yadav who won the seat in 2019 when the BSP and Samajwadi Party SP were allies This time the SP has nominated Babu Singh Kushwaha The seat remains challenging for the BJP which is banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modirsquos popularity and the Ram Mandir However with Srikalarsquos exitmdashconsidering her husbandrsquos significant political influence in Jaunpurmdashthe BJP now has a slight edge in this crucial raceThe Jaunpur seat frequently changes hands between parties reflecting the high political awareness and discerning voting patterns of its residents The seat was held by Congress from 1952 to 1962 with the Bharatiya Jana Sangh winning in 1962 In 1963 it returned to Congress and remained with them until 1971 Since then voters favoured various parties including the Bharatiya Jana Sangh Janata Party BJP SP and BSPIn an interview with midday in Jaunpur Singh said that no other candidate was in the race as people were voting for Modi and his leadership which he claimed was taking India to new heights of developmentExcerptsWhy did you leave Mumbai your karmabhoomi to contest elections in your hometown on a BJP ticket Wonrsquot it be challenging as most of your cadre is based in MumbaiI was 21 when I left Jaunpur to live in a small house in Mumbai where I worked hard and received so much in return However my connection to my birthplace is special and I visited Jaunpur every month just as one would return home when done with work The people here love me and take pride in my accomplishments in Mumbai In Mumbai yoursquoll find that every sixth person from Uttar Pradesh has roots in Jaunpur Today our Prime Minister is doing a lot of good work and the party wanted me to contest the elections from Jaunpur I am here as a party worker confident that we will win because people are voting for development and for Modiji and we are his karyakartasThe voting patterns and issues of Mumbai and Jaunpur are very different What do you think are the key issues driving votes hereThe people here are very pleased with the work being done by the state government under Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi The mindset of the voters here mirrors that of other statesrsquo residentsmdashthey want to give Modiji a third term to elevate development efforts to new heights As the Prime Minister has stated his third term will involve making significant decisions and when he appeals to the people they follow his lead He is the only leader with such a broad mass appealWhy did you quit the Congress despite the party giving you so much You have been the partyrsquos Mumbai president a minister in the Maharashtra cabinet and someone close to the Gandhi familyI have always been clear that I left the party over core issues like Article 370 and the Ram Mandir I wrote multiple letters to Sonia Gandhi regarding the partyrsquos stance on Article 370 but the party didnrsquot listen Additionally the party refused the invitation to attend the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha How can such decisions be made I have visited Ayodhya multiple times and my wife used to feel so bad seeing our Lord Ram in such a condition Today you see a huge temple being built and the sentiment of the people with lakhs visiting Ayodhya daily I never had complaints with the leadership I left the party purely for ideological reasonsWhat are the issues in Jaunpur Is there any kind of antiincumbency against the BJP government or castebased factors at playYes there is antiincumbency sentiment but itrsquos directed against the current Member of Parliament from the Bahujan Samaj Party If you ask anyone in Ayodhya whether theyrsquove seen their MP in the last five years yoursquoll get your answer People are fed up with him and want to vote for Modi to ensure their development work continues uninterrupted The state and Central governments have done a lot of work in UPmdashyou can see it in the roads and highways the distribution of rations and the improved law and order People are very happy so there is a proincumbency sentiment in favour of the BJP and I am confident of winning with a huge marginDo you think that the renomination of the current MP will make your journey easierThis is their internal matter and I donrsquot want to comment on it What I know is that I am winning Jaunpur by a huge margin and people are going to vote for PM ModiWhat promise do you want to make to the people of JaunpurI want to transform Jaunpur into an industrial corridor leveraging the existing infrastructure Bringing in a lot of industries to Jaunpur will be my priority