UP polls: Mulayam's daughter-in-law Aparna to take on BJP's Rita Bahuguna Joshi from Lucknow Cantt

Delhi: Mulayam Singh Yadav's younger daughter-in-law, Aparna, will contest upcoming Assembly polls from Lucknow Cantonment on Samajwadi Party ticket.

She is the wife of wife of Mulayam Singh Yadav's second son Prateek.

Aparna will take on sitting MLA Rita Bahuguna Joshi of the BJP.

Rita joined BJP last year after quitting the Congress party.

In 2012 as a Congress candidate Joshi had won the Lucknow Cantt seat defeating BJP in a seat which it had won five times since 1991. 

Joshi’s father, the late Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, was UP chief minister and he brother Vijay Bahuguna has been Uttarakhand CM.

Aparna has studied international politics at the University of Manchester.

On the other hand, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded Yogesh Dixit from the constituency.

The Congress will not put up a candidate for this seat because of their pre-poll alliance with SP.

In the fourth list of candidates that Samajwadi Party released on Monday, comprising 31 candidates, candidates were also declared for Varanasi, Chandauli, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Ballia, Kannauj, Lucknow, Fatehpur, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gorakhpur and Azamgarh.

The party gave ticket to Rajesh Kushwaha from Ghazipur in place of sitting MLA and minister Vijay Mishra.

Former minister Shadab Fatima, close to SP leader Shivpal Yadav who was sacked by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, was also denied ticket from Jahurabad seat (Ghazipur) and Mahendra Chauhan replaced her from the seat.

The party also changed its candidate from Gopalpur seat (Azamgarh) and gave ticket to Nafis Ahmad in place of sitting MLA and state minister Wasim Ahmad.

 The seven phase polls in the state will start on February 11. 

(With PTI inputs)