Here's Are Eight Female Candidates Fielded By Congress UP Assembly Polls 2022

Congress Women Candidates From Uttar Pradesh: Indian National Congress (INC) announced the list of candidates for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Elections in February 2022. Out of 125 names of the candidates announced from the party, 50 were of the women candidates from the state. This is in line with the promise made by the Congress party during a press meet at the party's office in Lucknow in October 2021. 

The "Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon" campaign by the national party also aims to empower women and girls to fight against violence. Earlier in 2021, the Congress Secretary from the state, Priyanka Gandhi explained the step taken by the party and how it wants to ensure full participation of women in the state's politics. 

Congress Women Candidates From Uttar Pradesh:

Asha Singh: 

Singh, the mother of the girl who tried to immolate herself after the Unnao rape case, has been given the ticket by Congress. The 55-year-old lady belongs has one son and four daughters. While her daughters are literate, Singh herself is uneducated. Her husband died in police custody, reportedly due to torture by police, after he was arrested under the Arms Act. After the death of her husband, she is dependent on agriculture for her living. The family mostly stays in Delhi where they were given a flat and Rs 2.5 crore as financial assistance.

Singh’s youngest daughter said that her mother will work for the poor and keep fighting for justice if elected. In the Unnao rape case, the accused Kuldeep Singh Sengar, former BJP MLA, was convicted by the court and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Aradhana Misra:

She has been serving as Member of Legislative Assembly from Uttar Pradesh's Rampur Khas, for which she will be contesting again in the upcoming elections. Misra has a sound academic background- with a bachelor's in commerce from Allahabad University. Currently, she is pursuing a post-graduate degree in Human Rights. She has been elected as Block Chief three consecutive times from the Pratapgarh district.

She is also a member of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee since the year 2000. Being a member of the Media Campaign Committee since 2012, she helped in strategising the campaigns related to the Congress party in the state. With over 17 years of experience in business, she is also Business Management Professional.

Poonam Pandey:

She has been given a ticket from Shahjahanpur of Uttar Pradesh. She is an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) worker who led agitation for raising honorarium. However, it was during this agitation that the ASHA workers were violently treated when they tried meeting the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath. Pandey was beaten up by the police badly and was heavily injured. The video of the incident went viral over the Internet. After the incident, Priyanka Gandhi met her and some other ASHA workers assuring them of every possible help from their end.

She is a resident of Nai Basti Reti in Shahjahanpur.

Suggested Reading: Govt Can’t Alone Stop Such Incidents: Rajasthan Minister On Alwar Rape Case

Pankhuri Pathak:

Pankhuri Pathak will be contesting from the Noida seat of Uttar Pradesh from Congress. She has been a student at the Hansraj College of Delhi University. She will be contesting the seat against the current MLA Pankaj Singh(son of Defence Minister of India-Rajnath Singh). Pathak serves as National Media Panelist for the INC and Vice President for the social media cell of the All India Congress Committee. She had earlier contested elections of student union representing the unit of Samajwadi Party. Her husband, Anil Yadav, has also joined the INC a few years back.

She announced her candidature on social media and wrote,“This is the first ladder of the struggle, the real climb has started now and I will be lucky if I get to reach the zenith”.

Ritu Singh:

Ritu Singh was earlier a part of the Samajwadi Party (SP). However, she joined INC in September 2021. Singh accused BJP workers of attacking her proposer and assaulting her during the panchayat polls held in Uttar Pradesh. She was upset with the fact that no senior leaders from SP came to meet her after the incident and said the state needs a leader like Priyanka Gandhi due to which she is joining the Congress. Singh will be contesting from Pasgawan of Lakhimpur Kheri.

Sadaf Jafar:

Sadaf Jafar is a social-political and human rights activist. She has been selected by the Congress party as a candidate and will be contesting from the Lucknow(central) seat in the state assembly election that will take place in February 2022. Jafar made headlines in 2019 when she was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police on Parivartan Chowk of Lucknow while she was protesting against Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 in the city.

She has also been part of Mira Nair’s BBC series A Suitable Boy. Currently, she serves as the national coordinator of the All India Mahila Congress.

Nida Ahmad:

Ahmad has been a known face in the media industry as she previously served as Senior producer and anchor for News India. She is now a member of Congress and will be contesting from the Sambhal constituency of Uttar Pradesh. Born in Sambhal, she completed her post-graduation in Mass Communication from AGI College of Delhi. The 36-year-old, Ahmad, started working as a journalist around 12 years back after her marriage. She has been part of leading news channels like Aaj Tak, News India, Zee Media.

She joined the party in presence of the UP Congress Chief Naseemuddin Siddiqui, who later announced her candidature in the upcoming elections.

Archana Gautam:

Archana Gautam will be contesting the Scheduled Caste reserved seat from Hastinapur in Meerut. Gautam is also a Bollywood actor and model. She won the beauty pageant award in 2018, namely- Miss Bikini India, Miss Cosmos World, Miss Talent. She also won Miss Uttar Pradesh in the year 2014. Her movies include Great Grand Masti, Haseena Parker, Baaraat Company, Junction Varanasi. Born in Meerut, she did her Bachelor in Journalism and Communication from IIMT, Meerut.

She joined the party in presence of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in an event in November 2021.