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UP's 'Dalit Dulha' set to contest from Hathras

AGRA: Sanjay Jatav, popularly known as the ‘Dalit Dulha’, shot to fame after he led his wedding procession on a horse-drawn buggy through the upper caste dominated villages of Nizampur in Kasganj district of Uttar Pradesh last year.


Now, the 27-year-old Dalit youth has another challenge on hand. He is all set to make a political debut by contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Hathras.



The ‘Dalit Dulha’ will be contesting from Ambedkar Samaj Party (ASP) which entered into an alliance, last month, with Shivpal Yadav-led Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia.

Tej Singh, the party’s national president, told TOI that the ASP will be contesting in nearly 30 seats in UP, including Nagina, Bijnor, Amroha, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, Noida, Shahjahanpur, Aligarh, Hathras and Agra. The final list will be released in a few days.

Singh added that Sanjay is the party’s “perfect Dalit face”. He fought against all odds for self-respect. “Sanjay has an ability to fight for the rights of our community and he has the potential to win the election,” said Singh, adding that if elected, he can do a lot of good work for the community.

Sanjay, who proudly addresses himself in his visiting card as the ‘Dalit Dulha’, said that he joined ASP as the party’s name gets inspiration from Babasaheb Ambedkar. In fact, Sanjay is one of Babasaheb’s ardent followers.

Citing the reason of contesting polls, Sanjay said that Dalit exploitation is everywhere and the worst part is that leaders don’t come forward to help others. “No one helped me when I was fighting for my rights. So, now I want to help others in getting justice,” he said, adding that it is ironic that while officials, including IAS and IPS from the Dalit community, don’t help their own, they dance to other politicians’ tune.

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