Family ties power up Samajwadi’s race for panchayat chairman post

This, however, hasn’t dampened the leaders’ hopes who are going all out to grab for their relatives the coveted plum post of chairman.

In Amroha, two cabinet ministers have set their eyes on the post. Mehboob Ali, who has been cut down to size after his ‘secondary education’ portfolio changed to ‘sericulture’, is trying to get the post for his wife Sakina. The newly promoted cabinet minister, Kamal Akhtar on the other hand, has thrown his weight behind his brother’s wife Husna Parveen.

In Barabanki, rural development minister Arvind Singh Gope is rooting for his brother Ashok Singh, but faces tough challenge from local SP MLA Dharamraj alias Suresh Yadav who is out gathering support for his brother’s wife Rajvanti.

In Farrukhabad, SP’s Qaimganj MLA Ajeet Katheria wants the post for his wife Shaguna Devi while Aliganj MLA Rameshwar Yadav (whose son Subodh Yadav lost the panchayat membership) is reportedly supporting another Scheduled Caste candidate Gyan Devi.

The battle in Sitapur is being fought by several warriors. SP MLA Rampal Yadav, MoS Narendra Verma and MoS Rampal Rajvanshi all have made their intentions very clear. While both Rampal Yadav and Narendra are out seeking support for their brothers Jitendra Yadav and Mahendra Verma, respectively, Rampal Rajvanshi has his plate full with three of his relatives having won as panchayat members. To tip his challengers over, Rampal Yadav has held meetings with the newly elected members, felicitating them with shawls and gratitude.

Meerut is caught in the tussle between leader Atul Pradhan’s wife Seema and minister Shahid Manzoor’s son Nawazish. Pradhan is the state president of SP’s student wing.

Shamli’s affair has struck a rather personal note between SP’s Kairana MLA Nahid Hasan and MLC Virender Singh. Nahid’s mother Tabassum, a former MP, remains a strong contender for Virender’s daughter-in-law Shefali. Incidentally, Virender’s son Manish Chauhan (Shefali’s husband) is the outgoing zila panchayat chairman but has created an opening for himself by again winning the membership, defeating none other than Nahid’s sister, Iqra Chaudhary.
Significantly, even party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav’s parliamentary constituency Azamgarh stands divided. Here the tussle is between Meera Yadav, current chairman and daughter-in-law of SP’s district unit president Havaldar Yadav, who is being challenged by forest minister Durga Prasad Yadav’s nephew Pramod Yadav.

For a change, Gorakhpur steps out of the SP’s infighting, but only marginally. BJP MLA Vijay Yadav, reportedly hobnobbing with the ruling party, is promoting his brother Ajay Bahadur Yadav as an SP candidate. This has not gone down well with the SP’s old cadre. To counter him, party’s district general secretary Manuranjan Yadav has launched his wife Geetanjali for the post.

In Siddharth Nagar, MLA Vijay Paswan’s wife Manju Paswan is facing strong resistance from Chinku Yadav, a youth leader who is openly supporting another zila panchayat member Garibdas. Chinku reportedly has sent names of nine members, including that of his wife Pooja, in support of Garibdas. Chinku had unsuccessfully contested the 2012 Assembly polls for the ruling party.

In Ghazipur, panchayati raj minister Kailash Yadav’s son Virendra Yadav would be the front-runner if it weren’t for the challenge posed by tourism minister Om Prakash Singh, who is pushing his close aide Satyendra, a student leader of SP.

Lastly, in Pilibhit, fisheries minister Reyaz Ahmed is supporting his relative Badrul Hasan’s wife Tulsi while SP’s Puranpur MLA Preetam Ram has thrown his weight behind his daughter-in-law Arti.