Shahira Naim
Tribune News Service
Lucknow, April 4
Punam Sinha, wife of actor-turned politician Shatrughan Sinha, is likely to be the joint Opposition candidate against Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Lucknow.
Sources said Punam is expected to contest as a mahagatbandhan candidate on the Samajwadi Party ticket with the Congress tactically supporting her by not fielding any candidate in Lucknow, making it a direct fight in this seat. As Shatrughan’s joining the Congress has been delayed so has the announcement of Punam as the Opposition candidate from Lucknow against political heavyweight Rajnath Singh.
Sources also claim that as Jitin Prasada was keen to contest from Lucknow, he had to be persuaded to stick to his constituency of Dhaurhara. Lucknow will become one of the seven seats that the Congress had promised to leave for the mahagathbandhan.
Shatrughan will now join the Congress in Delhi on April 6 and will be the party candidate from his traditional seat of Patna Sahib, Bihar.
“There are four lakh Kayastha voters and 1.3 lakh Sindhi voters in Lucknow, apart from 3.5 lakh Muslims. Punam is a Sindhi married to Shatrughan, a Kayastha. This will give a major push to her candidature,” said an SP leader.
from The Tribune http://bit.ly/2Iakq7a
via Today’s News Headlines
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