Battle for UP: BJP, Congress release candidate lists

New Delhi: The Congress has released its second list of 41 candidates and the BJP announced three more candidates for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Out of the 41 candidates announces in the second list of Congress, 16 are women, including Sukhwinder Kaur from Saharanpur, farmer leader Poonam Pandit from Syana, and Dr Yasmeen Rana from Charthawal.

The total number of tickets given to women are 66 out of the declared 166 candidates, which is marginally higher than the 40 percent as promised by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra party General Secretary and In-charge UP.

Last week the party had declared the names of 125 candidates of which 50 are women, constituting 40 percent of the candidates.

The women have been chosen from diverse backgrounds. These include the mother of Unnao rape survivor; Poonam Pandey an Asha Worker; Nida Ahmed, a journalist; and social activist Sadaf Jafar from Lucknow who was at forefront of anti-CAA protests.

Priyanka had earlier announced that 40 percent of the tickets would be given to women and had coined a slogan – ‘girls can fight’.

As per the latest update on the BJP front, Chhatrapal Singh is set to contest from Baheri, while Bahoranlal Maurya will be contesting from Bhojipura and Mukta Raja from the Aligarh.

With one more candidate in its third list, the BJP has so far announced 110 candidates for the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Elections for the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly will be held in seven phases from February 10. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. Last week the BJP had released the names of 107 candidates. The first list included Chief minister Yogi Adityanath who is slated to contest from the Gorakhpur (Urban) assembly constituency and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya who will be contesting from Sirathu.

Chandra Shekhar to contest against CM Yogi

Lucknow: In a major development, Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad will contest from Gorakhpur as Azad Samaj Party (ASP) candidate against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Chandra Shekhar had announced his decision to field candidates in around 33 seats in Uttar Pradesh after his alliance talks with Samajwadi Party failed.

Though the battle between Yogi Adityanath and Chandra Shekhar will mainly be one of perception, the Bhim Army hopes that other opposition parties will not field their candidates in Gorakhpur and support Chandra Shekhar.

Image courtesy of (Photo courtesy: oneindia.com)

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