Lucknow Cantt: Why Many In BJP Eyeing This Hot Seat In Uttar Pradesh Polls

Lucknow Cantt: UP Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi's son Mayank Joshi, BJP legislator Suresh Tiwari are a few of the contenders who are hopeful for a ticket of this seat in the upcoming state Assembly polls.

New Delhi: All eyes are on the Lucknow Cantonment seat which will go to the polls on the fourth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election. The voting for 60 assembly seats including Lucknow Cantt will take place on February 23 in Phase 4 of the upcoming UP polls. The otherwise quiet seat has suddenly grabbed everyone’s attention with several BJP leaders making a bid for it even though the party has a sitting legislator on it.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s son Mayank Joshi, Aparna Yadav, Suresh Tiwari are the top contenders for the much high-profile seat – Lucknow Cantt – in the upcoming state Assembly polls. What makes this hot seat interesting is because, experts say, many in BJP are looking to play it safe with a confirmed ticket to the Lucknow Cantonment seat.

Rita Bahuguna Joshi backs son Mayank for Lucknow Cantt seat

BJP Lok Sabha member from Allahabad Rita Bahuguna Joshi on Tuesday offered to resign from parliament if the party is ready to give ticket to her son Mayank Joshi. Joshi said that she had sent a proposal in this regard to party chief JP Nadda and it’s up to the party leadership to decide on it. “It is up to the party to decide on my offer. I had already announced that I will not contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” Rita Joshi was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.

Joshi mentioned that her son is working in BJP since 2009 and like others seeking ticket from Lucknow Cantt. “It the party has decided a policy of one ticket per family then I am ready to resign from Lok Sabha to make way for my son if he gets the ticket to contest assembly polls,” she said.

He (son Mayank Joshi) has been working since 2009 & has applied for it (a ticket from Lucknow Cantt), rightfully. But if the party has decided to give ticket to only 1 person per family, I will resign from my present LS seat if Mayank gets a ticket: BJP LS MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi pic.twitter.com/QCu3zN7p8P

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 18, 2022

The supporters of Rita Joshi, who has been lobbying hard for the Lucknow Cantt ticket, have reportedly claimed that if Rajnath Singh, an MP, can get a ticket for his son Pankaj Singh, and Rajvir Singh, also an MP, can get a ticket for his son Sandeep Singh, then the BJP MP also deserves to field her son.

Suresh Tiwari – The sitting contender

Suresh Tiwari, a former MLA, regained the Lucknow Cantt seat for the BJP in 2019 when he won the by-election from Lucknow. He had won the seat in 1996, 2002 and 2007.

Suresh Tiwari took over the Lucknow Cannt seat after BJP’s Rita Joshi let go off the assembly seat after she won from Allahabad in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. Many BJP leaders feel that Suresh Tiwari should be renominated for this seat since he got barely two years after he was elected in the by-election.

Deputy CM Keshav Maurya eyeing Lucknow Cantt seat

Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma has an eye on this seat as it is considered to have a sizeable upper caste vote, sources said.

While the other Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya has been named as a candidate for the Sirathu seat in Kaushambhi district, Dinesh Sharma’s candidature is yet to be cleared.

According to a party leader, Dinesh Sharma would prefer the Cantt seat which has 1.5 lakh Brahmin voters, 60,000 Sindhi and Punjabi voters who are traditionally BJP supporters, 25,000 Vaishya voters and Muslim voters are only about 40,000.

Aparna Yadav’s BJP entry

Reports of Aparna Yadav, the younger daughter-in-law of Samajwadi patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav who recently joined BJP, that she is all set to contest the Lucknow Cantt seat has suddenly made this seat into a VIP one. Two days back, Aparna Yadav had joined BJP at a ceremony where Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya was present. On Friday, Aparna Yadav tweeted a photo with her father-in-law Mulayam Singh Yadav and said she had sought blessings from the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister ahead of the much-awaited UP polls.

भारतीय जनता पार्टी की सदस्यता लेने के पश्चात लखनऊ आने पर पिताजी/नेताजी से आशीर्वाद लिया। pic.twitter.com/AZrQvKW55U

— Aparna Bisht Yadav (@aparnabisht7) January 21, 2022

Aparna, the wife of Prateek Yadav, had contested the 2017 elections from the Lucknow Cantt seat on Samajwadi Party’s ticket but lost to BJP’s Rita Bahuguna Joshi.

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Lucknow Cantonment Seat: Key Points

• The Lucknow Cantonment assembly constituency covers the cantonment area of the Lucknow city in Uttar Pradesh.
• The Lucknow Cantt seat is currently occupied by BJP’s Suresh Chandra Tiwari.
• The Lucknow Cantt seat has 1.5 lakh Brahmin voters, 60,000 Sindhi and Punjabi voters who are traditionally BJP supporters, 25,000 Vaishya voters and Muslim voters are only about 40,000.
• The Lucknow Cantt seat was occupied by Rita Bahuguna Joshi, a former Congress leader, before she vacated the much-coveted after she was elected MP from Allahabad.