Actress-turned-politician and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan has said that the individual who is responsible for safeguarding the country is the one who is creating chaos and disorder, in what many are seeing as an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Jaya Bachchan was addressing a public meeting on Tuesday.

The Samajwadi Party leader was campaigning for Lucknow SP candidate Poonam Sinha and urged the public to “wholeheartedly welcome” the new entrant where she laid emphasis on the responsibility of booth agents in ensuring victory for the candidate.

Bachchan also appealed to the public to ensure Poonam’s victory and even joked that Poonam has been a longtime friend and would not allow her to enter Mumbai if she lost the election. Poonam Sinha joined the Samajwadi Party days after her husband and sitting MP from Patna Sahib, Shatrughan Sinha, quit the BJP and joined Congress. Poonam is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow constituency against BJP heavyweight and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

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The SP, BSP, and RLD are contesting elections in an alliance this time, under which SP will contest on 37 seats, BSP on 38 seats and RLD on three seats.

Lucknow Lok Sabha seat – A three-way battle
With sitting Lucknow MP and BJP candidate Rajnath Singh, SP’s Poonam Sinha and Acharya Pramod Krishnam of Congress in the fray, the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat is now seeing a three-way battle.

Lucknow has been a traditional BJP citadel since former prime minister and BJP’s celebrated leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee emerged as a victor in 1991, winning it successively till 2009. The Lucknow seat was later kept warm by senior BJP leader Lalji Tandon and now has Home Minister Rajnath Singh as Lucknow’s sitting MP.

Lucknow will cast its vote on May 6 in the fifth phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The capital of Uttar Pradesh is among 80 crucial seats in the Lok sabha.