Congress fields lady doc in Yogi's hometown for LS bypoll in UP

Hoping to regain lost grounds in Uttar Pradesh, that sends 80 members to Lok Sabha, Congress has fielded a lady doctor in the bypoll from Gorakhpur, the hometown of UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

The Congress nominee Dr. Surhita Kareem, is a well-known gynaecologist in Gorakhpur town and had earlier contested for the mayor seat. She secured over 80 thousand votes but had lost to BJP.

Incidentally, Surhita's name was not among the list of probables from Gorakhpur seat sent to the party leadership. Her choice came as a surprise for the state party leaders, sources said.

Although Congress had won the Gorakhpur seat six times after independence, its nominees had lost their security deposits in the past six Lok Sabha polls.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Congress' Ashtabhuja Prasad Tripathi could secure a little over 40 thousand votes from Gorakhpur and lost his security deposit.

Congress also announced its candidate from Phulpur seat, where LS bypoll would be held along with Gorakhpur. UP Congress general secretary Manish Mishra has been fielded by the party from Phulpur.

Though the announcement of candidates by the Congress indicated the end of its alliance with Samajwadi Party (SP) and a setback to the attempts to field a consensus opposition candidate against BJP, according to the sources in the party it could be a ''pressure tactic'' by the party, which was interested in contesting from Phulpur seat from where former prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru was a member of Parliament.