BSP MP Shyam Singh Yadav, who walked with Rahul in Delhi: Ex-bureaucrat and ace shooter
The Jaunpur MP, who coached Indian shooting team at Beijing Olympics, accuses BJP of ‘doing Bharat Todo (break India)’ instead of ‘Bharat Jodo (unite India)’, lauding the objective of Rahul Gandhi’s Yatra
Written by Lalmani Verma
The BSP MP from the Jaunpur constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Shyam Singh Yadav joined top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra Saturday, when it entered Delhi. He walked with Rahul for about three hours through various areas across the national capital.
A former bureaucrat, Shyam Singh Yadav, 68, lauded the Yatra for its objective to connect the people across the dividing lines of caste, religion and politics. He said he joined the Yatra in his “individual capacity” on the invitation of Rahul, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the Congress’s leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Rahul has sent personalised letters to many Opposition leaders and MPs, urging them to join his Yatra in national interest for the cause of harmony, freedom and democracy.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Yadav, a first-time MP, said: “Although they (Congress leaders) individually urged me to join the Yatra, but I would have joined it anyways even if they had not invited me because my heart is with the Bharat Jodo Yatra.”
While his participation in Rahul’s march triggered speculation of a possible warming up in relations between the Mayawati-led BSP and the Congress in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Yadav said, “Rahul Gandhi’s Yatra is a non-partisan Yatra. He is inviting everyone to the Yatra. He invited me through a personal invitation. Sonia Gandhi ji in Parliament and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary too asked me to join the Yatra. I agreed. Also, the objective of the Yatra is good. In current scenario, all the democratic institutions like Income Tax, ED, CBI and Election Commission and even constitutional institutions — they are all merging into the state.”
Accusing the ruling BJP of “doing Bharat Todo (break India)” instead of “Bharat Jodo (unite India)”, Yadav said, “I agree with the objective of Rahul Gandhi’s Yatra. He is doing a good work.”
The BSP MP also said Rahul gave him a “lot of respect” during their march and walked with him for nearly 15 minutes. “I am very happy with the way he treated me too,” he said. He added that the Yatra was drawing a “very good response from public”.
The BSP has not spelt out its stance on Yadav’s move so far. When contacted, BSP spokesperson Dharamveer Choudhary refrained from making any comment on this matter.
On his part, Yadav said that if his party will raise any objection, he will give his explanation to it.
Yadav retired from the Uttar Pradesh government as a special secretary in 2014. He however continued to take a keen interest in public life. Two years later, he became a member in the advisory board of the Censor Board, Mumbai.
He got the BSP ticket in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Jaunpur that has a sizeable population of the Yadav community. The BSP was then a pre-poll ally of the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP.
For a brief period, Shyam Singh Yadav served as the BSP leader in the Lok Sabha.
He is also the working president of the Akhil Bharatiya Yadav Mahasangh.
A tabla player, Yadav has also acted in a feature film and a TV serial and produced a documentary on the Shukva Tal religious place in Muzaffarnagar.
Yadav had represented India in shotgun events in the world championships held in Shanghai, Malaysia and Italy. He had also been the coach-cum-manager of the Indian shooting team in various world cups and world championships. He was the coach of the Indian shooting team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He has also served in the National Rifle Association of India and the UP State Rifle Association.
A recipient of the UP government’s Laxman award, Yadav is a “student pilot licencee”. He also participated in Himalayan Car Rally in 1987.
Courtesy : TIE
Note: This news piece was originally published in theindianexpress.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights.