INTERVIEW: Raja Bhaiya retaliates at Akhilesh over "Kundi on Kunda" jibe

During a public rally in Kunda, Akhilesh Yadav said, "This time, people will put a latch on Kunda." Akhilesh Yadav indirectly took a jibe at Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiya. Slamming Akhilesh for his unsavoury remarks against the Kunda people, Raja Bhaiiya spoke to Alok Tripathi, ETV Bharat Lucknow Bureau Chief, in an exclusive interview on various issues and ongoing polls.

Lucknow:Kunda MLA and Jansatta Dal chief Raghuraj Pratap Singh, popularly known as Raja Bhaiya, slammed Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav for his comments during a rally in the constituency.

"Akhilesh Yadav has used derogatory words towards the people of Kunda. He said that he would close the "Kundi (latch) on Kunda" in a way that it cannot be opened again. I just want to tell Akhilesh Yadav that he cannot close the latch on Kunda," Singh said.

On Thursday, during a public rally in Kunda, Akhilesh Yadav said, "Iss baar yahan ki janta Kunda mein Kundi lagane ka kaam karegi (this time, people will put a latch on Kunda)." Akhilesh Yadav indirectly took a jibe at Raghuraj Pratap Singh.

Having fought the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections as an Independent candidate, Singh has retained the Kunda seat for the last six terms --1993, 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017 -- and was reportedly close to the Samajwadi Party before the fallout.

Voting for the fifth phase of the Assembly elections is underway in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. Many senior leaders are in the fray in this phase. One of them is Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiya. Born on 31 October 1967 in the Bhadri princely state of Pratapgarh, Raja Bhaiyya, at the age of 26, contested for the first time in 1993 from the Kunda Assembly constituency as an independent candidate and won the election.

He received the support of the BJP in 1993 and 96 while in 2002, 2007 and 2012, he contested the poll as an independent candidate with the support of SP and won the elections. Raja Bhaiya, who is good at political equations, became a minister in the BJP and SP governments. In 2013, his name came up in the famous DSP Ziaul Haq murder case, but later, he was found innocent in the investigation.

In 2002, in the BJP-BSP coalition government, BJP MLA Puran Singh Bundela lodged a complaint against Raja Bhaiya. Based on the complaint, the then Chief Minister Mayawati sent Raja Bhaiya, his father Uday Pratap and his friend Akshay Pratap to jail under POTA.