If the Gangs of Wasseypur focused on power and vengeance in coal-rich Dhanbad, the Gangs of Khanpur epitomise the politics of power and vengeance in cash-rich Haridwar.
Khanpur falls in Haridwar district and Champion had been winning this election ever since the state of Uttarakhand was formed in Kumar had contested the election as an Independent. Umesh Kumar and his supporters retaliated on 25 January by shouting slogans against Champion outside his office.
Before matters could get any worse, he was stopped by some bystanders and handed over to the police. What happened over the Republic Day weekend is symptomatic of the criminal tendencies of many politicians in Uttarakhand today. Facing rape charges, he left western Uttar Pradesh and landed up in Uttarakhand when the state was first formed. Claiming to be a journalist, he soon ingratiated himself with former chief minister N. Tiwari who even granted him an armed police escort. Accused of being involved in several land-grab cases, Kumar is reported to have entered into an agreement with the owners of Pan Parag to launch Samachar Plus.
Being close to former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Kumar was let off. This was not the only case where he was accused of blackmail. He tried blackmailing a subsequent chief minister, Trivendra Singh Rawat, who had his channel shut down and ordered the police to expel him from the state for six months. Kumar is also known to have conducted sting operations on several bureaucrats including additional chief secretary Om Prakash.
His most prominent sting operation was on former chief minister Harish Rawat in This was when seven senior state Congress leaders had migrated to the BJP. Champion has an equally infamous record. He claims to be a scion of the erstwhile state of Landhaura.
