LS polls: BJP bets on women power in Allahabad and Phulpur; Joshi, Patel file nominations

ALLAHABAD: Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidates for Allahabad and Phulpur, Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Kesari Devi Patel respectively, filed their nominations for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections at the collectorate on Monday. It is for the first time that BJP has fielded woman candidates from both Allahabad and Phulpur.

Joshi started for the collectorate from Kalyani Devi temple of the city, along with a procession on Monday. She was accompanied by UP minister Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi, his wife and Allahabad mayor Abhilasha Gupta, BJP MLA from Meja Neelam Karvariya and several party supporters. At Chandrashekhar Park, Patel joined Joshi.

Kesari Devi Patel filing her nomination from Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency

At the park, deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and the two candidates addressed a public meeting.

“The opposition has joined hands to stop PM Modi, who is sure to form the next government because even president of a party like Congress (Rahul Gandhi in Amethi) or Samajwadi Party (Akhilesh Yadav in Azamgarh) are sure to lose their seats,” said Maurya. “The country has been swept by Modi lehar (wave) and BJP is sure to win more than 350 seats in the Lok Sabha polls,” said Joshi.

She said BJP has created a new record by fielding two women candidates from the two parliamentary constituencies.

Meanwhile, SP candidates from Allahabad and Phulpur, Rajendra Pratap Singh and Pandhari Yadav respectively, also filed their nominations on Monday. “We didn’t take out any procession as we did not have a permission from the administration. SP would organise a roadshow on April 25,” said SP spokesperson KK Srivastava.