Congress may have to part with key seats in Gandhi bastions
LUCKNOW: With candidate for only one more seat left to be announced, Congress’ push to field its nominees on all 10 assembly seats in the twin VIP parliamentary constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli appears to have been thwarted.
The party, however, managed to field its candidates on seven assembly constituencies in the two districts so far — considered den of Gandhi family — which is more than the 50-50 share Akhilesh had agreed to part with earlier.
In 2012, when the two parties had contested separately, SP had won seven seats while the Congress managed two.
Little known Peace Party got one seat. Congress released its fourth list of candidates on Saturday, taking its tally to 104 candidates, so far. As part of their pre-poll alliance, Congress and SP had agreed to contest 105 and 298 seats, respectively, in UP’s 403 seat assembly.
The Congress has so far fielded candidates on three assembly seats in the Amethi Lok Sabha - Tiloi, Salon and Jagdishpur, and four under the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha -Bachhrawan, Harchandpur, Rae Bareli, and Sareni seats. SP MLAs from Gauriganj, Rakesh Pratap Singh and Unchahar MLA Manoj Pandey, have already filed their nominations.
The final name for the Amethi assembly seat, where SP announced the candidature of legislator-minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, however, remains in limbo.
Congress campaign committee chairman Sanjay Singh is attempting to wrest control of the Amethi seat for wife Amita. With Saturday’s list leaving only one seat open, the scales appear to have been tipped in Akhilesh’ favour. Congress’ fourth list also accommodated SP MLA Ram Chandra Chaudhary’s son Angad from the reserved Kadipur assembly in Sultanpur, while runner-up in the Campiyarganj seat in 2012, SP’s Chinta Yadav, will contest on hand symbol this time.
Former SP MLA Samad Ansari, denied a SP ticket, has been fielded by Congress from Varanasi North.
The party, however, managed to field its candidates on seven assembly constituencies in the two districts so far — considered den of Gandhi family — which is more than the 50-50 share Akhilesh had agreed to part with earlier.
In 2012, when the two parties had contested separately, SP had won seven seats while the Congress managed two.
Little known Peace Party got one seat. Congress released its fourth list of candidates on Saturday, taking its tally to 104 candidates, so far. As part of their pre-poll alliance, Congress and SP had agreed to contest 105 and 298 seats, respectively, in UP’s 403 seat assembly.
The Congress has so far fielded candidates on three assembly seats in the Amethi Lok Sabha - Tiloi, Salon and Jagdishpur, and four under the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha -Bachhrawan, Harchandpur, Rae Bareli, and Sareni seats. SP MLAs from Gauriganj, Rakesh Pratap Singh and Unchahar MLA Manoj Pandey, have already filed their nominations.
The final name for the Amethi assembly seat, where SP announced the candidature of legislator-minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati, however, remains in limbo.
Congress campaign committee chairman Sanjay Singh is attempting to wrest control of the Amethi seat for wife Amita. With Saturday’s list leaving only one seat open, the scales appear to have been tipped in Akhilesh’ favour. Congress’ fourth list also accommodated SP MLA Ram Chandra Chaudhary’s son Angad from the reserved Kadipur assembly in Sultanpur, while runner-up in the Campiyarganj seat in 2012, SP’s Chinta Yadav, will contest on hand symbol this time.
Former SP MLA Samad Ansari, denied a SP ticket, has been fielded by Congress from Varanasi North.
