They have politics in their blood. They might talk against nepotism in public, but when it comes to contesting elections family comes first. Undoubtedly, dozens of kin of political bigwigs have brought much colour and interest to the electioneering in Uttar Pradesh.
The Gandhis and the Yadavs are the two big clans among the many who are contesting the elections in UP this year, also. While many of them have stuck to their stronghold, some other leaders have shifted their constituencies. Congress president Sonia Gandhi is contesting from her pocket borough, Rae Bareli, while her son Rahul Gandhi will fight from his bastion, Amethi. Both the seats are considered the stronghold of the Gandhi clan.
Gandhi’s sister-in-law Maneka Gandhi is the BJP nominee from Pilibhit parliamentary constituency, which was represented by her son Varun last time. This time, Varun is contesting from Sultanpur. Maneka was earlier elected as MP from Aonla.
Similarly, former Prime Minister late Chaudhary Charan Singh’s son and Rashtriya lok Dal president Chaudhary Ajit Singh is contesting from Baghpat once again, while his son Jayant Chaudhary is trying his luck from Mathura parliamentary constituency. Former Bollywood actress and BJP nominee Hema Mailini is also in the fray from Mathura lok Sabha seat.
Another political family in the fray is that of Samajwadi Party president and former UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. Mulayam will contest from Mainpuri and Azamgarh seats while his daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav will fight from Kannauj parliamentary constituency. Yadav’s nephews Dharmendra Yadav and Akshay Yadav will be contesting the elections from Badaun and Firozabad lok Sabha seats respectively.
The SP has also fielded Shivkanya Kushwaha, the wife of former UP Welfare Minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, who was known for his closeness to BSP supremo Mayawati and was jailed over his involvement in multi-crore National Rural Health Mission scheme — from Ghazipur parliamentary constituency. Congress leader Begum Noorbano will fight from Moradabad lok Sabha seat while his MlA son Nawab Kazim Ali will contest the elections from Rampur for the first time.
Jitin Prasad, the son of late Kunwar Jitin Prasad who was a political adviser to former PMs PV Narasimha Rao and Rajiv Gandhi, will fight from Dharaura lok Sabha seat on a Congress ticket. Former UP Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi will contest from lucknow. Her brother Vijay Bahuguna, who was Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, is likely to contest from Pauri.
Imran Masood, the nephew of former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Raseed Masood, is in the fray from Saharanpur as the Congress candidate. last week, he landed in jail for his infamous hate speech against Narendra Modi, and secured bail on Wednesday.
Neeraj Shekhar, the son for late PM Chandrashekhar, will contest on a SP’s ticket from Balia, while Seema Upadhyaya, the wife of a senior BSP leader, is contesting from Fatehpur Sikri lok Sabha seat. Sharad Tripathi, son of former BJP state president Dr Ramapati Ram Tripathi is contesting polls from Sant Kabir Nagar.