Satyapal Singh to fight polls on development agenda

Aspiring to contest Lok Sabha polls from Baghpat in UP, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh today said riot taint on some BJP MLAs will not affect his chances and he will fight polls on the development agenda in RLD leader Ajit Singh's stronghold.

Singh, who resigned from his post in February and joined the BJP, however, acknowledged that people in the constituency, especially Muslims and Jats, have "very very bitter" feelings following Muzaffarnagar riots. The former Mumbai Police Commissioner stressed that he would focus on the issue of development. "I am getting response from them (Muslims). Everybody wants development. I don't know what is inside somebody's mind. If there is power, roads and industry, it will benefit all," he said, adding several teachers from AMU have joined his campaign.

While rejecting the charge of BJP's involvement in riots as a political propaganda, he distanced himself from regional BJP leaders, including some MLAs, accused of inciting violence. "I am not here to speak for anybody. A criminal is a criminal. Crime is crime. Everybody should get justice," he said.

The 'Modi effect', he said, will help him break Union Minister Ajit Singh's stronghold over Jats in the area. "What he (Ajit Singh) has done. Baghpat has become the most undeveloped part of NCR. Roads are so bad. There is no industry and hardly any employment opportunity. The area has become so insecure and unsafe...," he said, attacking the RLD chief.

Though BJP is yet to announce his name and there have been reports that Maharashtra unit leaders want Singh to fight from Mumbai, the former cop said he will fight from Baghpat, which, he said, "is one of the most difficult seats". "I am a cop. I like challenges. This is also where I was born and raised. It is in such a bad shape. To create order out of chaos is the job of a cop. I will do it. I will win," he said.