BJP’s Mathura Lok Sabha poll candidate Hema Malini meets Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary

Mathura (Uttar Pradesh): Hema Malini, BJP candidate from Mathura Lok Sabha constituency, met with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary here on Thursday. The meeting assumes significance as around 35 per cent of voters of the Mathura Lok Sabha constituency are from the Jat community, the main support base of the RLD.

"Today was the first meeting with Jayant Chaudhary. I also got a chance to address his office bearers and party workers. It was very good," Hema Malini said in her brief reply to the reporters after the meeting.

Jayant Chaudhary was recently switched over from the INDIA bloc to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). His switchover is considered to be beneficial for the actor-turned-politician who has been fielded by the BJP from the constituency for the third consecutive time. Mathura Lok Sabha seat is very important for the Bharatiya Janata Party and the party looks forward to retaining its hold on this seat.

People of Mathura consider Hema Malini, who is the wife of actor Dharmendra Deol, as Jat's daughter-in-law. Mathura, situated on the banks of Yamuna, is a Jat-dominated area with about 35 per cent Jat voters.

Elections were held on the Mathura seat 17 times, in which candidates from the Jat community were victorious 12 times. From 1991 to 1999, Mathura was the BJP's stronghold four times. In 2004, Mathura went to Congress's account. In 2009, RLD's Jayant Chaudhary became an MP from Mathura. In 2014, the BJP fielded Hema Malini who won. In the 2019 elections, Hema's husband, actor Dharmendra, also campaigned for her and gathered a huge crowd in her favour. Due to the public welfare schemes of the double-engine government, once again in 2019, lotus bloomed in Mathura and Hema Malini became an MP.

Hema Malini remained active in both her tenures. Political experts believe that after RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary joins the NDA, BJP will not only be helped in getting Jat voters in Mathura and parts of western UP, but BJP will also get the benefit in Haryana and other places. Interestingly, Hema defeated Jayant by more than 3 lakh votes in the Mathura seat in 2014. (ANI)

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