Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav will take on Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rita Bahuguna Joshi for the Lucknow Cantonment seat in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Joshi, who had quit the Congress to join the BJP last year, had won the seat during 2012 elections.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s namesake will contest from the Mubarakpur constituency in Azamgarh district. The Samajwadi Party, which announced its list for 37 seats on Monday, denied a ticket to Shivpal Yadav’s close aide Shadab Fatima.
The other seats for which candidates were announced include Balia, Gorakhpur (rural), Lucknow Cantonment, Lucknow North and Machhlishahar.
The ruling party in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday announced a pre-poll alliance with the Congress for the the elections that begin on February 11. The Congress will contest 105 seats, while the SP will field its members from 298 constituencies in the 403-seat Assembly.
The chief minister, who released his party’s manifesto at an event in Lucknow on Sunday, urged voters to give the SP another chance to govern the state. Among the multiple poll promises, the party has vowed to give poor children in primary schools one litre of ghee and milk powder every month, free medical services to those whose annual earning is below Rs 1.5 lakh, and ensure electrification of every village in the state.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati called the manifesto misleading. “The promises made by the Samajwadi Party in their election manifesto are misleading for the public,” she told ANI on Monday.
Uttar Pradesh polls will be held in seven phases and counting of votes will happen on March 11.
Correction and clarification: An earlier version of this story erroneously stated that Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav would contest the elections from the Mubarakpur constituency.
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