AAP releases first list of candidates for local body elections in UP

LUCKNOW: Aam Aadmi Party released its first list of candidates for the upcoming local body elections on Friday, which included names for the post of Mayor in Aligarh, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Firozabad, Meerut and Prayagraj. The first list of 143 names also included 40 candidates for the post of Nagar Palika Parishad Chairperson and 97 for the post of Nagar Panchayat Chairperson.

Party spokesperson Mahendra Ramadhin said that a second list, which is likely to cover all candidates, will be issued within the next two to three days.
Of its six candidates for the post of Mayor, Richa Singh who has been nominated from Meerut is a 42-year-old MBA, who is active in social work. Singh has held the post of chief mentor, Sports Academy Association of India, State President of Women Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and has been a member of the selection committee for the senior women national football championship.
From Gorakhpur, journalist Ramesh Sharma will be contesting for the post of Mayor. He is an MCom and MEd.
Sharda Tandon is the party’s mayoral candidate from Varanasi. Tandon has been associated with AAP since the past three years, having been the state president of the women’s wing from 2020 to 2022 and is currently the president of the AAP Varanasi women’s wing. A senior party member said that Tandon has also served as the district vice president of the Kashi Udyog Mahila Vyapar Mandal and has been working for the cause of weavers and women for the past several years.
In Prayagraj, the party’s candidate for the post of Mayor is Md Qadir. Party sources said that Qadir is a well known trader in the city and the nephew of Abdul Majid Rain, who was killed while participating in the Quit India Movement in 1042.
From Aligarh, the party has named Rajkumar as its candidate while Rajkumari Verma is the candidate for the post of Mayor from Firozabad.