 "Congress turncoats pitted against SP candidates in Lucknow")
As politicking for the coming Uttar Pradesh polls reaches a crescendo, two high-profile candidates of the ruling Samajwadi Party are up against Congress turncoats in as many assembly constituencies in state capital of Lucknow.
Congress turncoats Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Neeraj Bora are contesting on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tickets.
Interestingly, Congress and Samajwadi Party are allies in the UP poll and are contesting 105 and 298 seats respectively of the total 403 assembly seats in the state.
Bora is fighting from Lucknow North constituency against UP minister and UP CM Akhilesh Yadav’s close confidante Abhishek Mishra.
While, Joshi had won the 2012 UP poll by defeating then sitting BJP legislator Suresh Tiwari, Bora had lost by a small margin to Mishra in the poll.
Interestingly, Bora was then a close aide of then UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi, but he had joined BJP in run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha poll.
On the other hand, Joshi had joined BJP last year, soon after her brother and former Uttarakhand CM Vijay Bahuguna had switched loyalties to BJP following his long running power feud with bête noire and sitting CM Harish Rawat.
Meanwhile, Lucknow is witnessing another ruling Yadav clan member trying his luck at the hustings. Anurag Yadav, Mulayam’s nephew and brother of SP Member of Parliament (MP) from Badaun Dharmendra Yadav, is contesting from Sarojininagar constituency.
Anurag Yadav is contesting against Swati Singh, who is UP BJP women’s wing president and wife of sacked BJP general secretary Daya Shankar Singh. Singh was expelled from BJP last year over his alleged indecent remarks against former UP CM and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati.
The seven phases polling in UP have been slated on February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, March 4 and 8 respectively. The counting of votes would be held on March 11 for all five states going to polls viz. UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. Lucknow would witness polling in third phase.
Congress turncoats Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Neeraj Bora are contesting on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tickets.
Interestingly, Congress and Samajwadi Party are allies in the UP poll and are contesting 105 and 298 seats respectively of the total 403 assembly seats in the state.
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Joshi is contesting from Lucknow Cantonment constituency against social activist Aparna Yadav, who is the younger daughter-in-law of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Joshi is a former UP Congress Committee (UPCC) president and is the daughter of former UP chief minister (CM) Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna.
Bora is fighting from Lucknow North constituency against UP minister and UP CM Akhilesh Yadav’s close confidante Abhishek Mishra.
While, Joshi had won the 2012 UP poll by defeating then sitting BJP legislator Suresh Tiwari, Bora had lost by a small margin to Mishra in the poll.
Interestingly, Bora was then a close aide of then UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi, but he had joined BJP in run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha poll.
On the other hand, Joshi had joined BJP last year, soon after her brother and former Uttarakhand CM Vijay Bahuguna had switched loyalties to BJP following his long running power feud with bête noire and sitting CM Harish Rawat.
Meanwhile, Lucknow is witnessing another ruling Yadav clan member trying his luck at the hustings. Anurag Yadav, Mulayam’s nephew and brother of SP Member of Parliament (MP) from Badaun Dharmendra Yadav, is contesting from Sarojininagar constituency.
Anurag Yadav is contesting against Swati Singh, who is UP BJP women’s wing president and wife of sacked BJP general secretary Daya Shankar Singh. Singh was expelled from BJP last year over his alleged indecent remarks against former UP CM and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati.
The seven phases polling in UP have been slated on February 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, March 4 and 8 respectively. The counting of votes would be held on March 11 for all five states going to polls viz. UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. Lucknow would witness polling in third phase.
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