Pallavi Patel, the younger sister of Union Minister Anupriya Patel, will be contesting as the Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from the Sirathu seat in Uttar Pradesh’s Kaushambi district where the BJP has fielded Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Anupriya heads the Apna Dal (Sonelal), which is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Centre and UP. Pallavi, however, is a member of the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) that is run by her mother Krishna Patel. The SP has made an alliance with Patel’s party for the UP Assembly elections and Pallavi will be contesting on its symbol.
However, sources in the party that Pallavi’s candidature has created unrest in the local party cadre that recommended the name of Anand Mohan Patel, who lost the election on the seat against Keshav Prasad Maurya in 2012 as the BSP’s nominee. He joined the SP a few years ago.
Former minister and senior OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit the BJP to join the SP last month, will be contesting from Fazilnagar in Kushinagar, which is not his traditional seat. He had been winning from the Padrauna seat in the same district.
The SP also announced Abhishek Mishra as its candidate from the Sarojini Nagar seat in Lucknow. Mishra, a Brahmin, contested from Lucknow North in 2017 but lost. The party has shifted him to the Thakur dominated Sarojini Nagar area where the BJP has given the ticket to former police officer Rajrajeshwar Singh.
Uttar Pradesh will witness a seven-phase Assembly election from February 10 to March 7 to elect 403 members of the House. The votes will be counted on March 10 along with those polled in four other states.