Disquiet in Congress over selection of UP assembly by-poll candidates
Questions are being raised over the manner of selection as the party has announced candidates for the by-poll, being touted as a mini-assembly election.
Resentment is brewing in the state Congress over selection of candidates for forthcoming by-elections to 13 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.
Questions are being raised over the manner of selection as the party has announced candidates for the by-poll, being touted as a mini-assembly election.
The Uttar Pradesh assembly has 13 vacancies now. The Election Commission has scheduled the by-election to the Hamirpur assembly seat on September 23. The programme for the by-elections to the 12 other seats is yet to be announced.
“The Congress has declared its candidate without consulting me. I will write to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to inform her about the prevailing state of affairs,” said Acharya Pramod Krishnam, who contested the election from Lucknow Lok Sabha seat in May and lost.
Krishnam is not alone. A number of party leaders are raising their voice against the selection process for some other seats too, though they refuse to go on record.
“We understand a group of partymen has sent a message to Congress president Sonia Gandhi too about the Lucknow Cantt assembly seat where the candidate Dilpreet Singh has begun his campaign,” said another leader.
What has upset a section of Congress leaders?
“Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi had reviewed the party’s poll performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections at a meeting in Rae Bareli on June 12. The party decided to appoint an incharge for every assembly seat. Senior Congress leader and former MP Rajesh Mishra was made incharge for the Lucknow Cantt seat. The candidate declared by the party for the Lucknow Cantt assembly seat does not figure on his list too,” the leader said.
Besides the Hamirpur assembly seat, where the candidates have filed nominations, the Congress has declared candidates for 10 out of the 12 other seats where by-elections will be held. The Congress candidates declared on Friday include Umesh Kumar Diwakar (Iglas SC), Sneh Lata (Tundla SC), Karishma Thakur Govindnagar, Sunil Mishra (Jalalpur) and Raj Mangal Yadav (Ghosi).
The party candidates declared earlier include Nauman Masood (Gangoh), Dilpreet Singh (Lucknow Cantonment), Ranjana Pandey (Manikpur), Neeraj Tripathi (Pratapgarh) and Tanuj Punia (Zaidpur).