Samajwadi Party To Pitch Late BJP Leader's Wife Against Yogi Adityanath In UP Elections?

As the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election date approaches, the shuffling within and in between political parties of the state continues. After Congress' poster girl Dr Priyanka Maurya joined Bharatiya Janata Party, the wife of a late BJP leader, Subhavati Shukla, has joined Samajwadi Party and is likely to contest the elections from Gorakhpur Sadar constituency against the current Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath of BJP.

Subhavati Shukla is the wife of former BJP Vice-President for UP, Upendra Dutt Shukla. On January 20, she joined the Samajwadi Party, spearheaded in the elections by Akhilesh Yadav, son of politician Mulayam Singh Yadav. She was accompanied by her two sons--Arvind Dutt Shukla and Amit Dutt Shukla.

"Impressed by the policies of SP the family of former BJP state vice-president and former candidate in Gorakhpur Lok Sabha by-election, late Upendra Dutt Shukla, joined the Samajwadi Party. Welcome, and greetings," SP tweeted from its official Twitter handle.

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Arvind, the eldest son, told ANI that after his father's demise in 2020, the family felt neglected. "Our family was neglected after my father's death (by the BJP). It's been 20 months since my father left," he said. The family had reportedly asked BJP to install a statue of Upendra Dutt and name a road after him but the BJP did not comply.

He also said that Subhavati was unhappy with BJP's behaviour and wanted to contest the elections. "It does not matter how strong candidate Yogi Adityanath, we will send our mother to Vidhan Sabha through which our father's name will also reach there," he said.

Meanwhile, Azad Samaj Party has decided to give the Gorakhpur ticket against Yogi to Chandra Shekar Aazad. Before Yogi was speculated to contest the elections from Ayodhya to benefit BJP in elections but last week the party confirmed that Yogi Adityanath will be contesting from his home turf. This is the first time that Yogi Adityanath will be running for MLA.

The polls in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7 in seven phases. The vote counting will take place on March 10.

(Feature Image Credit: ANI)