Delhi-based business journalist Supriya Shrinate has replaced jailed politician Amarmani Tripathi’s daughter in the Congress party, as the party fielded her for the Mahrajganj Lok Sabha constituency, on Friday. Shrinate has quit her journalistic career with ET Now in order to join the party and will be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
Right after the party made the announcement, Shrinate tweeted, “I have stepped down as Executive Editor at @ETNOWlive to pursue the next challenging phase of my life outside media I thank The Times group for the most exciting 10 yrs of my journalism. Wish the channel, mgmt all my colleagues the very best @vineetjaintimes @Anandmk @nikunjdalmia.”
I will be taking an active plunge in politics, am grateful to @INCIndia @RahulGandhi @priyankagandhi @JM_Scindia for trusting me with Maharajganj. It will be an honour to keep my late father’s legacy alive. I look forward to making a meaningful contribution
— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) March 29, 2019
“I will be taking an active plunge in politics, am grateful to @INCIndia @RahulGandhi @priyankagandhi @JM_Scindhia for trusting me with Maharajganj. It will be an honour to keep my late father’s legacy alive. I look forward to making a meaningful contribution,” she added.
I will be taking an active plunge in politics, am grateful to @INCIndia @RahulGandhi @priyankagandhi @JM_Scindia for trusting me with Maharajganj. It will be an honour to keep my late father’s legacy alive. I look forward to making a meaningful contribution
— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) March 29, 2019
Including Shrinate, Congress has fielded a total of 10 women candidates in UP of the total 80 LS constituencies in the state. It has a total of 17 constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes of which Congress has given two tickets to women—Omwati Devi Jatav from Nagina constituency and Manjari Rahi from Misrikh constituency respectively.
The other candidates include Congress party ex-chief Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli, Savitri Bai Phule from Bahraich, Dolly Sharma from Ghaziabad, Annu Tandon from Unnao, Priti Harit from Agra and Ratna Singh from Pratapgarh.
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Congress released a list of candidates on 28 March having Tanushree Tripathi’s name from Mahrajganj constituency but today it released another list with Shrinate’s name on the same constituency and clarified that Shrinate has joined the constituency and will be contesting the election.
“There are many things I can achieve using my contacts as a journalist. Although I was a business journalist, I am privy to some of the solutions that were suggested to me, and I am also aware of the public’s woes. Therefore, politics is a platform for me to put these solutions to motion,” said Supriya to the media.
It will be an honour to keep my late father’s legacy alive. I look forward to making a meaningful contribution.
Shrinate has taken the opportunity to contest election from Mahrajganj because her late father Harsh Vardhan, was the two-time Congress MP from the same constituency. While he started his political career as the president of the Samajwadi Yuvjan Sabha in 1974, he became a member of the Consultative Committee in the Ministry of Defence.
She studied in Loreto Convent in Lucknow, after which she went on to do her graduation from Lucknow University in Political Science, History and Economics.
Congress announced the names of 12 candidates, including four from Bihar where it was finalising the alliance with RJD. Seven phase Lok Sabha polls are set to begin on April 11 and will go on till May 19. Counting of votes will take place on May 23.
Picture credit- Brand Equity