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Journalism of Courage
With all of two MLAs in its kitty in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has shown great generosity in picking three leaders from the state to send to the Rajya Sabha, from other states where it has the might to send them (Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh). The other surprise in the UP Congress Rajya Sabha list is the choice of the three names, including Imran Pratapgarhi, Pramod Tiwari and Rajeev Shukla.
All three are seen to carry the stamp of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, with both Pratapgarhi, 34, and Tiwari, 69, belonging to the same district of Pratapgarh.
Congress insiders, however, said that the nomination of the Muslim leader and Brahmin face went beyond that and was deliberate as the party hopes to continue its efforts to woo the two communities – central to its hopes of revival in the state.
While Pratapgarhi is being sent to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra, Tiwari has got the nod from Rajasthan, and Shukla from Chhattisgarh.
Party sources cite Pratapgarhi’s vocal voice against the BJP, both at the Centre and in the state, as having qualified him for the Rajya Sabha nomination. Tiwari, a veteran Congress leader from UP, has served as Rajya Sabha MP before, and holds a record of sorts for winning Rampur Khas Assembly seat in Pratapgarh nine times. In 2013, when Tiwari moved to the Rajya Sabha, his daughter Aradhna Mishra contested and won, and has been winning since, including in the recent Assembly polls, when the Congress got only two seats. She is the Congress Legislature Party leader in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
Apart from this stellar election record, Tiwari has been honoured for his experience in government in the state, one of the few such leaders left in the Congress. The party has been out of power in UP for a long time.
Shukla, 62, a journalist-turned-politician from Kanpur district of UP is a known figure in the national capital, with several terms in the Rajya Sabha behind him – last of that from Maharashtra. He has been party spokesperson in the past.
