Anurag Thakur takes jibe at SP's Swami Prasad Maurya over "fleeing" from bastion Padrauna, says fear of loss made him do so

New Delhi [India], February 2 : After Samajwadi Party fielded former BJP minister Swami Prasad Maurya from a different seat than his bastion Padrauna in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar in the upcoming Assembly polls in the state, Union Minister Anurag Thakur took a jibe at him saying that the fear of loss makes people "flee even from their bastion" and Maurya is none different.
Notably, Samajwadi Party has fielded Swami Prasad Maurya from Fazilnagar of Kushinagar district. He is currently the sitting MLA from the Padrauna seat and a three-time MLA from the same seat.
This is being seen as a precautionary move following the speculations of RPN Singh being fielded from Padaruna. Singh is a former Union Minister and Congress party leader who joined the BJP ahead of the Assembly elections.
Speaking to ANI, Thakur said, "It is said about Swami Prasad Maurya that he chooses a new 'Swami' (Master) after every five years. But the situation has become such that he is not even ready to contest election from his own bastion. What is his compulsion that he had to flee from his Padrauna seat? It is because of the fear of loss. The reality is, where Samajwadi Party is going to suffer a crushing defeat in the upcoming election, Maurya is scared of losing his own seat too."
Asked if Maurya has not been fielded from Padrauna following the speculations of RPN Singh contesting from the same seat, Thakur claimed that Maurya would face defeat in the elections no matter where he contests from.
"We had said on the very first day that he would not be able to contest from his bastion. Wherever he would go, he would have to face defeat," he said.
Stating that the fear of loss made Congress leader Rahul Gandhi flee from his stronghold in Amethi in the Lok Sabha elections, Thakur said that the same would happen with Akhilesh Yadav and Maurya.
"The fear of loss makes people flee even from their bastion. Even Rahul Gandhi had fled from his Lok Sabha seat in Amethi. Akhilesh Yadav fled from his seat too, so has Swami Prasad Maurya now. All of them are being haunted by their fear of loss in their respective seats. Whatever be the reason for their fear, this would ensure their defeat in the elections. This fear exists in the criminals of Uttar Pradesh as well who have either fled from the state or are in jail now," he said.
Talking about SPS Baghel who the party has fielded against Akhilesh Yadav from Mainpuri's Karhal seat, Thakur claimed that the BJP candidate would win with a huge margin.
"Our candidate SPS Baghel will give a tough fight to Akhilesh Yadav and will win with a huge margin. That is why the Opposition has come down to caste, religion and appeasement politics. On the other hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party has done the work of going to the people for its achievement, development," he said.