A wall in Allahabad still seeks votes for Lal Bahadur Shastri

ALLAHABAD: A wall in the city carries the legacy of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri more than 60 years after he won Lok Sabha elections from Allahabad.
As one enters the busy Khilona Market in Chowk, a porch opposite Kotwali in Loknath area, in red paint across a wall is the slogan: "Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri ji ko vote den, do bailon ki jodi chunav chinnh (Vote for Lal Bahadur Shastri, poll symbol a pair of bulls)." It takes one back to the years of Shastri's huge influence among Allahabad voters. From 1952 to 1969, Congress poll symbol was a pair of bulls. Shastri won two consecutive terms from Allahabad constituency in 1957 and 1962.

"Before being elected to LS, he was elected to the UP assembly in 1952 from Soraon North and Phulpur West seat," said Prabhakar Shastri, the former PM's grandson.

UPCC spokesperson Kishore Varshney said, "During those days, it was enough to write slogans on walls to seek votes for personalities like Shastri. In 1957, he defeated Radhey Shyam Pathak of Praja Socialist Party by a margin of 56,032 votes and later Ram Gopal Sand of BJS by 68,533 votes."

Shastri was railways minister in the Jawaharlal Nehru's first Union cabinet.