Poonam Sinha files nomination from Lucknow

Poonam Sinha, wife of actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, on Thursday filed her nomination as a Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Lucknow against Union Minister and BJP leader Rajnath Singh.

After filing her nomination papers, she held a road show in which hundreds of SP workers participated raising slogans against the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state.

Poonam Sinha joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Tuesday in the presence of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav.

Considered a BJP stronghold, the party has not lost a single election in Lucknow since 1991. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee represented the constituency from 1991 to 2004. After Vajpayee retired from active politics, BJP's Lalji Tandon won the high profile seat in 2009.

Rajnath Singh retained Lucknow for the party in 2014 by defeating Congress leader Rita Bahugna Joshi with a huge margin. Joshi later switched sides ahead of the Assembly elections in the state and joined the BJP.

The seven-phase Lok Sabha is scheduled from April 11 to May 19. Counting votes will take place on May 23.

--IANS

aks/rtp