Ex-union minister in Congress’ second list

Sources said that keeping in mind the previous day’s “scuffle” that saw leaders from Hardoi being upset over ticket distribution, the party this time chose candidates who have been associated with it for a long time.

With stakes in the upcoming Local Body elections high, Congress chose former union minister Pradeep Aditya Jain to contest for the post of Mayor from Jhansi in its second list of candidates released on Saturday.

Jain had been minister of state for rural development in the UPA government and had lost in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. “It was a direction from party leadership and as a worker I accepted the challenge. It was also an unanimous decision from all the party workers, who told the leadership that partymen would be united on my candidature,” said Jain.

From Saharanpur, party declared its district president Shahi Walia as its candidate for mayor, whereas in Varanasi it chose Shalini Yadav, daughter-in-law of former MP and former deputy speaker of Rajya Sabha Shyam Lal Yadav.

Other mayor candidates included Dolly Sharma from Ghaziabad, Mohan Singh from Mathura Vrindavan, Rizwan Qureshi from Moradabad, Ajay Shukla from Bareilly, Madhukar Sharma from Aligarh and Shahjahan Parveen from Firozabad.

Sources said that keeping in mind the previous day’s “scuffle” that saw leaders from Hardoi being upset over ticket distribution, the party this time chose candidates who have been associated with it for a long time.