SP has no official candidate for Allahabad mayor post

The post of Allahabad Mayor,the polling for which will be held on June 27,has been reserved for women this time.

After withdrawal of nomination,the four SP candidates in the fray are: Jamunotri Gupta,wife of former MP Shyama Charan Gupta; Suman Srivastava,wife of local leader K K Srivastava; Anju Dubey,wife of another local leader Vinod Chandra Dubey,and Sabia Mohani. Only Mohani is an active party worker. The national general secretary of the Women’s Wing of SP,Sudha Singh,withdrew her nomination at the last moment.

SP’s district unit chief Pandhari Yadav said: “There is no official or supported candidate for SP in the elections to the post of Mayor. The cadres will not participate in canvassing for a candidate in their official capacity. The candidates,who have filed their nomination,are free to approach them in their personal capacity. But none of them are bound to help out the candidate.”

Sources in SP,however,indicated that Jamunotri Gupta may still find more supporters. “There are no active women party workers in the fray. She has at least contested elections earlier. The rest are just wives of political leaders having no recognition or experience,” said a party office-bearer.

Gupta had lost the Mayoral elections earlier in 1995 to current state Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi. Earlier,the district unit too had proposed her name hoping to reach a consensus. However,after getting the required instructions from the state leadership,the city and district units have kept a distance from Gupta.