Lok Sabha elections: Jitin Prasada to contest from Lucknow, challenge Rajnath
Subhash Mishra | TNN | Mar 24, 2019, 10:09 IST
Jitin PrasadaLUCKNOW: Scotching speculation of a shift to the saffron camp, former Union minister Jitin Prasada is all set to challenge Union home minister Rajnath Singh from his Lucknow constituency.
Sources close to Jitin Prasada, the son of late Congress veteran Jitendra Prasada, said he was reluctant to contest from his traditional Dhaurahara constituency, where he lost in the 2017 assembly polls. Now, he has agreed to shift to Lucknow.
“Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Jitin Prasada drove down to Delhi airport in the same car late on Saturday and the two settled the issue on the way,” a source told TOI. Jitin, a Brahmin from the influential Prasada family of Shahjahanpur, had been sulking after being asked to contest from Dhaurahara. He also felt slighted by the party brass after his counterpart Jyotiraditya Scindia was handed over a larger role in the party in Uttar Pradesh.
The young Prasada is a close friend of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who campaigned for him in the 2017 assembly elections. Both the parties were in an alliance then.
Both Akhilesh and Jitin are in touch and the SP is likely to field a lightweight in Lucknow to allow a friendly fight with the young Prasada and put up a united front against the Union home minister.
Sources close to Jitin Prasada, the son of late Congress veteran Jitendra Prasada, said he was reluctant to contest from his traditional Dhaurahara constituency, where he lost in the 2017 assembly polls. Now, he has agreed to shift to Lucknow.
“Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Jitin Prasada drove down to Delhi airport in the same car late on Saturday and the two settled the issue on the way,” a source told TOI. Jitin, a Brahmin from the influential Prasada family of Shahjahanpur, had been sulking after being asked to contest from Dhaurahara. He also felt slighted by the party brass after his counterpart Jyotiraditya Scindia was handed over a larger role in the party in Uttar Pradesh.
The young Prasada is a close friend of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who campaigned for him in the 2017 assembly elections. Both the parties were in an alliance then.
Both Akhilesh and Jitin are in touch and the SP is likely to field a lightweight in Lucknow to allow a friendly fight with the young Prasada and put up a united front against the Union home minister.
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