Former chief ministers Ram Naresh Yadav and Jagdambika Pal, CLP leader Pramod Tiwari and former minister Lokpati Tripathi figure in the list of 303 Congress candidates for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections announced by the AICC on Saturday.
While Yadav, who was chief minister during the Janata Party rule over two decade back has been fielded from Phulpur, Pal, who had the dubious distinction of heading the state for only a day few years back, has been renominated from Basti. Pal had sided with Naresh Agarwal after the last elections who had split the state party to form the Loktantrik Congress to support BJP's bid for power.
Tiwari has been renominated from Rampur Khas while Tripathi is again the party nominee from Majhwa.
Congress has already declared that it would have no direct or indirect alliance with the Samajwadi Party and would go in for understanding with smaller parties and groups. Louis Khursheed, wife of former PCC president Salman Khursheed, has been given the ticket from Kaimganj, an assembly segment of Farrukhabad Lok Sabha seat which was once represented by her husband. Ashok Bajpai, son of late party leader Rajendra Kumari Bajpai and R P N Singh, son of late union minister C P N Singh have been nominated from Allahabad north and Padurna respectively. Former ministers Shatrudra Prakash (Varanasi Cantt), Markandeya Singh (Gazipur), Syed Ul Hassan (Bulandshahar) and Buniyad Husain Ansari (Laharpur) and Akhilesh Pratap Singh (Rudrapur) and Pravin Singh Aron (Bareilly Cantt) figure in the list.
Bureau Report