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Rajnath files nomination from Lucknow, Congress yet to announce candidate

Rajnath files nomination from Lucknow, Congress yet to announce candidate

Apr 16, 2019
03:50 pm

What's the story

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh filed his nomination from Lucknow Lok Sabha seat on Tuesday, but Congress is yet to come up with a rival. The deadline to file nominations from the prestigious seat ends in two days. Lucknow will vote on May 6. It should be recalled that Singh got a thumping win from Lucknow in 2014 as well. Here's more.

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Pictures: Senior BJP leader filed his nomination

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Singh prayed at iconic temple before filing nomination

Before filing his nomination, Singh offered prayers at Lucknow's revered Hanuman Setu Temple. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi and UP minister Brajesh Pathak accompanied him. Later, he led road show to collector's office. UP CM Yogi Adityanath was supposed to accompany him, but he couldn't owing to Election Commission's directive. The polling body banned Adityanath from holding rallies for 72 hours for his communal speeches.

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Here are the visuals from Singh's roadshow

Constituency

Lucknow had showered love on Vajpayee/BJP several times

Lucknow and BJP go way back. The seat had sent late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999, and 2004. In 2014, Singh's biggest competitor was Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who fought on Congress ticket. While Singh got 5,60,000 votes, Joshi got 2,80,000 votes. BSP and SP came third and fourth respectively. Later, Joshi joined BJP and this time she has been fielded from Allahabad.

Alliance

Earlier, Akhilesh said he was willing to take risk

In the partnership of rivals-turned-allies, Lucknow's seat went to SP. When asked about a prospective candidate, party president Akhilesh Yadav said he would announce a name soon. "On a seat like Lucknow, I am willing to take a risk. I want to look beyond the usual caste combination here. The question is whether it will work or not," Akhilesh reportedly said.