Eye On Jat Votes, Yogi Adityanath Unveils Chaudhary Charan Singh’s Statue

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.