Sonia’s ex-campaign manager, party-hopper — who is Dinesh Pratap Singh, Rahul’s rival in Rae Bareli

Raebareli: Uttar Pradesh Minister and BJP leader Dinesh Pratap Singh had an interesting encounter with Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on a flight in 2021. As recounted by him in a Facebook post in October that year, he was travelling from Delhi to Lucknow on an Indigo flight and happened to occupy the seat booked by Priyanka.

When she saw Singh, the Congress leader told him it was “her seat” and he won’t be able to take “their seat” so soon. Singh retorted that their “seat was in danger and that was enough”.

Singh had fought against Priyanka’s mother Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli seat in the previous Lok Sabha elections in 2019. He had then bagged over 38 percent of the total votes — the highest a rival candidate could ever manage against Sonia who has contested the seat four times. In comparison, she secured over 55 percent of the total votes polled.

Cut to 2024, and the BJP leader, a minister of state (independent charge) in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet, has been pitted against Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli.

The seat is viewed as a Congress bastion, given that Indira Gandhi contested from here in 1971 and 1980. Rajiv Gandhi’s cousin Arun Nehru and former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s sister-in-law Sheila Kaul, too, represented Rae Bareli in 1984 and 1989 respectively.

“The BJP snatched the main campaign manager of the Congress in Rae Bareli and fielded him against the Gandhis. He is a Thakur candidate and enjoys support among the upper castes,” a UP BJP leader told ThePrint while campaigning.

Rae Bareli votes in the fifth phase on 20 May.

Singh family & ‘Panchvati’

With Rahul shifting to Rae Bareli from his traditional seat of neighbouring Amethi, the BJP has once again imposed faith in 56-year-old Dinesh Pratap Singh, who has changed loyalties four times and has been with all of the state’s major political players — from Samajwadi Party (SP) to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), to the Congress and finally the BJP.

From living in a mud house in Gunavar Kamangalpur village to staying in the grand ‘Panchvati’ in the heart of Rae Bareli, Dinesh Pratap Singh’s family has established its hold over the region’s politics over the past two decades.

‘Panchvati’ has emerged as a power centre in Rae Bareli, with several of Singh’s family members having served in key posts including MLC, MLA and district panchayat president.

Alok Singh, a resident of Rae Bareli, remembered how at one point Singh would navigate the roads of the city on his old bike. He is the second among five brothers, the others being Ganesh, Awadhesh, Brajesh and Rakesh Pratap Singh. At least seven members of his family have held different posts like MLA, MLC and district panchayat president in Rae Bareli.

Dinesh’s elder son Ashish said that despite all five brothers being engaged in different businesses, they live as a joint family, which is why their family home is named ‘Panchvati’ (banyan tree). “There is no difference between one’s father and one’s uncle in our family. Unity is our strength,” he added.

Having started his political career with the SP in 2004 after he was elevated to the position of general secretary in the Rae Bareli unit by Mulayam Singh Yadav, Dinesh Pratap Singh joined the BSP in 2007 and fought the assembly election from the Tiloi seat, which later became a part of the Amethi Lok Sabha seat in 2008, but lost.

His political rise coincided with his joining the Congress in 2009 when he won an MLC election from the party. His sister-in-law, brother Brajesh’s wife Suman Singh, became the district panchayat president in 2010, a post that went to Brajesh in 2012 while his brother Awadhesh was elected to the post in 2015, according to BJP insiders.

Not only did Dinesh Pratap Singh emerge as a Gandhi family loyalist during this time, he was also closely involved in booth management and campaigning for the Gandhis when he was a Congressman. He was elected as an MLC again from the Congress in 2016 while his younger brother Rakesh Pratap Singh was elected as an MLA from Harchandpur in 2017.

The family continued to dominate block-level elections in the area and in 2000, Rakesh’s wife Sonia Singh became the Harchandpur block chief while Awadhesh became the block chief from Singhpur in 2005.

“The district panchayat chairperson post has been with our family for over a decade. When the seat became an SC seat in 2021, a candidate supported by our family became the chairperson,” said Ganesh Pratap Singh, elder brother of the state minister.

The family switched loyalties in 2018 when Dinesh Pratap Singh joined the BJP and was subsequently fielded against Sonia Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Dinesh’s youngest brother Rakesh Pratap Singh too distanced himself from the Congress soon after his 2017 win on a party ticket. Ahead of the 2022 assembly polls, Rakesh joined the BJP and fought the election from the same seat but lost to SP’s Rahul Lodhi.

In 2021, Dinesh’s younger son Piyush became the block chief from Harchandpur.

Why BJP reposed faith in Dinesh Pratap Singh

BJP sources said the party rewarded Dinesh Pratap Singh and appointed him minister of state (independent charge) for horticulture, agricultural marketing, agricultural foreign trade and agricultural exports mainly because he bagged over 38 percent votes against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi which is the highest that any of her past rivals have managed to get in Rae Bareli.

“When his brother lost the Harchandpur election in 2022, it was seen as a symbol of declining influence of ‘Panchvati’ in Rae Bareli politics. Dinesh Pratap’s ministership came as a consolation prize and boosted his stature in the region,” said a BJP leader from Rae Bareli.

Despite losing to Sonia Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Dinesh Pratap Singh, a Thakur, has been fielded again by the BJP against Rahul Gandhi for several reasons including the “local” factor and his family’s influence in the constituency.

“He is a resident of the area and holds sway among the public here, which is why he bagged a significant number of votes last time,” said a UP BJP leader.

“This time, he will win. The Congress vote share in Rae Bareli has been declining and we are confident of covering the gap this time. As a minister, Singh’s representation in the Yogi government and also the fact that a popular Brahmin face Manoj Pandey (SP MLA) is supporting the BJP, will help us benefit,” the leader added.

According to BJP sources in Rae Bareli, the constituency has a total of 17,65,460 voters, which includes 1.40 lakh Kshatriyas, 1.35 lakh Brahmins, 6.70 lakh OBCs, 4 lakh SCs, 1.20 lakh Muslims and 7,000 Vaishyas.

Rahul Gandhi will face not just Singh but also the BSP’s Thakur Prasad Yadav.

Further, what also helped Dinesh’s cause was his role in the March Rajya Sabha polls, it is learnt. Three of the SP’s 8 MLAs who cross-voted or abstained from voting represent assembly segments in the Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituencies, which the Congress is contesting as part of its seat-sharing arrangement with the SP.

ThePrint had reported in February that SP’s Jalalpur MLA Rakesh Pandey, Gosainganj MLA Abhay Singh, Gauriganj MLA Rakesh Pratap Singh, Unchahar MLA Manoj Pandey, Kalpi MLA Vinod Chaturvedi, Chail MLA Pooja Pal and Bisauli MLA Ashutosh Maurya cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha election, helping the eighth BJP candidate Sanjay Seth win.

That the SP MLA from Amethi, Maharaji Prajapati, abstained from voting, too damaged the SP. BJP insiders said it was Dinesh Pratap Singh who played a role in bringing the SP MLAs on board. “Two of the SP MLAs who cross-voted are Abhay Singh and Rakesh Pratap Singh, both Thakurs, a caste to which Dinesh Pratap belongs,” said the BJP leader quoted earlier.

Family members of both Abhay and Rakesh Pratap Singh have already joined the BJP.

Singh’s candidature, however, was not a cake walk as he beat several contenders within the BJP fold to get the ticket including Rae Bareli MLA Aditi Singh and SP MLA Manoj Pandey.

In an apparent bid at damage control, Singh Friday met Pandey before filing his nomination and hugged him. Both have been seen as political rivals for over a decade now.

Pandey, who is yet to officially join the BJP, continues to be an SP MLA. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had earlier alleged that Pandey cross-voted and helped the BJP in the RS polls because he was promised a Lok Sabha ticket by BJP.

(Edited by Gitanjali Das)