BJP’s Noida Race Heats Up as Its ‘Undisputed King’ Mahesh Sharma to Get a ‘Nawabi’ Challenge in 2024

The name that has almost become synonymous with the polity of Noida — a cosmopolitan suburb, just next to the national capital, is Dr Mahesh Sharma. Ever since his election to the 16th Lok Sabha when Narendra Modi tsunami swept India’s political landscape, Sharma’s clout has only grown.

Running a hospital chain, a doctor by profession, and a Brahmin by caste in Uttar Pradesh, any opposition from within BJP had vanished in Gautam Buddha Nagar, as the district is officially known. But after reigning for two terms straight, for the first time, “the undisputed king” of Noida may have to face opposition, from within, for the very first time, even before facing the opposition parties.

THE ‘NAWAB’ HAS THROWN A CHALLENGE

After reigning over the high-profile seat for a decade, nearly unopposed, ‘Doctor Sahab’, as many fondly call Sharma, is going to face Nawab Singh Nagar, another BJP leader from the area, to get the BJP ticket. It’s early July and the former MLA, who was also a minister in Uttar Pradesh government, has started his campaign for the same seat.

As of now, Nagar is campaigning in the rural belt of the district, where he is learnt to have a strong foothold. “Yes, you have heard it right. I am going door to door, meeting people as I wish to contest on the BJP ticket from Gautam Buddha Nagar. People want me to contest,” Nagar told News18. He adds he took this decision after he “is reliably told” that BJP is keen to field Mahesh Sharma from another seat.

Nagar doesn’t hide his aspirations when he threw a virtual challenge to Sharma by saying he is more popular than the sitting BJP MP. “Let the leadership do a survey here. Let them find out the popularity. I am definitely way ahead. If a survey is conducted, I will pass with flying colours,” a confident Nagar told News18.

Sharma received almost 6 lakh votes in 2014 while his nearest opponent Samajwadi Party’s Narendra Bhati received almost half — 3,19, 490 votes. He was made part of Modi’s Union Council of Ministers. In 2019, his performance got even better when Sharma managed 8,30,812 votes while his nearest rival, BSP’s ‘Mahagatbandhan’ candidate Satveer Nagar, managed to obtain 4,93,890 votes.

WHO IS NAWAB SINGH NAGAR?

Nagar has twice been MLA from Dadri, which falls under the Gautam Buddha Nagar Lok Sabha constituency. If Sharma has a strong urban base, Nagar enjoys the support of the rural pockets. However, his foray in the urban belt is marked by his agitation against the collection of toll charges on the Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) flyway which saw him lead multiple spate of protests.

He also successfully led farmers’ protests and was jailed for it. He was part of BJP’s farmer’s cell, and was made the Chairperson of Uttar Pradesh’s Sugarcane Development Board in Yogi Adityanath’s government. Western UP is known to be the sugarcane belt. The farmer’s disenchantment due to the BJP bringing three contentious bills still runs raw. With the possibility of a farmer leader in the fray, it will make BJP’s larger prospect in the area including Baghpat, and Muzzafarnagar area tad easy.

However, Nagar hasn’t been a man without controversy. In the aftermath of the infamous Dadri lynching of Md Akhlaq, this BJP leader went on to justify the act which proved to be one of the main reasons he was sidelined. Close associates of Nagar told News18, Nagar blames Mahesh Sharma for his fate. When asked about his fate post his post-Dadri comment, Nagar said, “Rivalries are common in politics. How can you deny that? It has always been there.” His close associates insist now he wants to take Sharma’s spot.