Noida: The Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party ( PSP ) has decided to replace its candidate Naved Pathan with a Gujjar contestant, Jitendra Singh, for Gautam Budh Nagar.Son of Bihari Singh Baghi, who had hit the headlines for letting loose a lion on a rally being addressed by Indira Gandhi in Dadri in 1974, Jitendra is set to upset the SP-BSP’s calculation, which, too, has fielded a Gujjar and is eyeing the rural vote base.Baghi, a popular farmer leader once close to Indira, had been denied a Congress ticket from Dadri. He had contested as an Independent, got a lion on rent from a circus in Ghaziabad and let it loose on the rally that Indira was to address. The crowd had dispersed and the rally was cancelled. Jitendra (47) is a well-known figure in Dadri and has served in different positions in the Yuva Rashtriya Lok Shakti Dal. He quit the party about two years ago.Jitendra said fighting corruption would be his main poll plank. “Gautam Budh Nagar has become a den of corruption. Farmers have been chasing bureaucrats and are helpless before them. The bureaucrats posted here treat it as a place for minting money,” he said, adding that farmers’ issues would be his priority.

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