SP declares Union minister's sister and ex-UP minister as its candidates for Assembly polls

Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party on Wednesday declared Union minister Anupriya Patel's sister Pallavi Patel and former UP Cabinet minister Swami Prasad Maurya in the Yogi Adityanath government among three new candidates for the state Assembly polls.

Former UP minister Abhishek Mishra in the Akhilesh Yadav government was declared the third candidate.

Patel, Maurya and Mishra will be fielded respectively on Fazilnagar seat in Kushinagar district, Sirathu in Kaushambi and Sarojini Nagar in Lucknow Assembly seats. The Assembly seats in Lucknow district go to polls on February 23, Kaushambi district on February 27 and Kushinagar district on March 3.

Maurya, who quit the Adityanath government within days after the announcement of the Assembly poll schedule and joined the SP, was fielded on the Fazilnagar Assembly seat in the Kushinagar district.

A five-time MLA, Maurya is currently the sitting MLA from Padrauna in the same district after winning the seat on a BJP ticket in the 2017 Assembly elections.

Categorically stating he will "contest from only one Assembly seat , Maurya asserted that his party workers will contest the elections for him.

The SP has fielded Union Minister Anupriya Patel's sister Pallavi Patel from the Sirathu Assembly seat in the Kaushambi district where she will take on UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.

Pallavi Patel belongs to Apna Dal (Kameravadi) headed by her mother Krishna Patel, who has forged a pre-poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party.

Anupriya Patel heads the Apna Dal (Sonelal), which is an ally of the BJP. The Apna Dal (Sonelal) has currently nine MLAs in the UP legislative Assembly, supporting the Yogi Adityanath government.

The SP will be fielding its third candidate Abhishek Mishra, declared on Wednesday, on the Sarojini Nagar seat against BJP's Rajeshwar Singh.

In the 2017 elections, Mishra had unsuccessfully contested from Lucknow North against a BJP candidate.