Defeated Ajit Singh last time, ready to take on his son: Satya Pal Singh

Union minister Satya Pal Singh, a retired IPS officer who is seeking re-election from Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat Lok Sabha seat as a BJP candidate, said after defeating RLD founder Ajit Singh in 2014, he is ready to take on his son.

Satya Pal Singh, who's pitted against the RLD's Jayant Chaudhary in Baghpat, which has traditionally been a bastion of the Chaudhary family, is confident of retaining the seat that goes to polls on April 11

The junior Minister for HRD and Water Resources also believes that controversies surrounding his views on Darwin's theory of evolution and Newton's laws will not have any impact on the elections.

 

In 2014, the former Mumbai police commissioner had trounced Ajit Singh by a margin of nearly two lakh votes. This time, Ajit Singh has handed over the mantle to his son Jayant Chaudhury.

"I competed with the father last time, this time I am competing with the son but that is not my area of concern. I am ready to defeat them. I did not shed khaki to don khadi to focus on uprooting dynastic politics but to work on real issues on the ground," Satya Pal Singh told PTI in an interview.

"This is what I tell voters... that they should choose wisely whom they want to vote for - those who only speak about their family legacy or a leader who devotes most of his time to the constituency and works for the development of the area," he said.

Asked about the work done by him in his constituency, Satya Pal Singh said, "Development works like the operational Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), improved electricity supply, rapid construction of connecting roads and issues of national security will work in my favour."

"The voters of this constituency won't buy the emotional plank of 'Junior Chaudhary' invoking his grandfather Chaudhary Charan Singh's legacy. Young voters do not vote on the basis of the work done decades ago, they vote on what is happening now," he added.

The Union minister had triggered controversies when he claimed that Darwin's theory of evolution was scientifically wrong and should not be taught in schools and colleges and that 'mantras' had codified laws of motion before Isaac Newton.

"I still stand by my statements. However, I have clarified earlier also that these are my views and not of the party. It will not impact elections as voters are smart to decide who will work better on the ground," he said.

In 2014, Satya Pal Singh defeated the Samajwadi Party's Ghulam Mohammad by over two lakh votes, while Ajit Singh was relegated to the third position in his bastion.

This time, Ajit Singh is contesting the Lok Sabha polls against Sanjeev Balyan of the BJP from Muzaffarnagar.

Satya Pal Singh is one of the high-profile cops who quit the Indian Police Service to enter politics. He had joined the BJP in 2014 and contested the Lok Sabha elections that year.

Singh has an MBA from Australia, an MA in Public Administration and Ph.D. in Naxalism from Nagpur University.