Battle of Gorakhpur: SP May Field Subhavati Shukla to Take on CM Yogi And Bhim Army’s Chandrashekhar in UP Polls, Say Reports

Gorakhpur Sadar goes to the polls on March 3 during the sixth phase of elections in UP. The results will be declared on March 10. 

New Delhi: Hours after Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshiram) announced that prominent Dalit face Chandra Shekhar Aazad will fight the Uttar Pradesh assembly election from Gorakhpur Sadar seat, reports claimed that the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party may fieled Shubhavti Shukla from the Vidhan Sabha seat to take on incumbent chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

If reports are to be believed, Shubhavati, wife of late Upendra Dutt Shukla (prominent BJP leader ) had met senior BJP leaders in Lucknow a few days back. In 2018, Upendra Shukla had contested the Lok Sabha bypoll from Gorakhpur seat after Adityanath became UP CM and vacated the seat but the former had lost to the SP candidate.

Gorakhpur Sadar goes to the polls on March 3 during the sixth phase of elections in UP. The results will be declared on March 10.

Earlier on Wednesday,  SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had sought to woo the sitting BJP MLA Radha Mohan Agarwal, offering him his party ticket for the high-profile seat. Asked about BJP’s Gorakhpur (Urban) MLA Agarwal, the Samajwadi Party chief told media perons, “If you (reporters) can establish contact with him and speak to him, the ticket will be announced and he will get the ticket.

For the unversed, Agarwal has been the MLA from Gorakhpur Urban seat since 2002. “I remember the oath-taking ceremony of Chief Minister (Yogi Adityanath). I had seen Radha Mohan Agarwal on the occasion. He was not able to find a seat and had to keep standing. He has been insulted the most in the BJP government,” Yadav said attacking the saffron party.

When Agrawal was asked about Akhilesh’s offer, he refused to comment. However, state BJP spokesperson Harish Chandra Shrivastava lambasted the SP chief and said,”Every member of the BJP is a disciplined soldier of the party and accepts whatever responsibility is given to him by the party. ‘In Gorakhpur, CM Adityanath is the party candidate but even in places where other BJP candidates are in the fray, the SP does not have any strong candidate,” said Shrivastava, adding this is the reason for Akhilesh Yadav’s frustration and uneasiness.