UP Assembly election: Cong Bareilly Cantt candidate jumps to SP

“I congratulate them… The SP has become strengthened because you are joining, and we will form the government,” Akhilesh told a press conference at the SP headquarters in Lucknow.

Written by Asad Rehman

Lucknow | Updated: January 23, 2022 01:44 AM IST

2 min read

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav welcomes Supriya Aron to SP | Express photo by Vishal Srivastav

The Congress candidate from UP’s Bareilly Cantt seat, Supriya Aron, switched to the Samajwadi Party (SP) along with her husband and ex-Congress MP Pravin Singh Aaron on Saturday. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav announced that Supriya, former Bareilly mayor, will contest the coming UP election from the same seat.

Both the husband-wife have been with the Congress for the last 15 years, even though prior to that Pravin had been with the SP too. Pravin was the Congress MP from Bareilly from 2009 to 2014.

Along with them, Rita Singh, wife of late Raja Mahavir Singh, who was an MLA from Hardoi’s Sandila seat, also joined SP.

“I congratulate them… The SP has become strengthened because you are joining, and we will form the government,” Akhilesh told a press conference at the SP headquarters in Lucknow. “They are not just joining, but will also face the elections,” he said.

Supriya was among the Congress’s candidates in its first list for the UP polls the party announced on 13 January.

Reacting to Supriya’s defection, Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi tried to put up a brave face, claiming, “Her exit does not bother our party because our organisation is strong and we are going to form the government under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Supriya Aron will regret joining the SP on March 10 when the results are announced.”

On her part, Supriya, while speaking to The Indian Express, said: “I have nothing against anyone in the Congress. The decision to leave the party is because I want to stop the BJP and I see the SP being the only party that can do it. Hence, I have joined hands with Akhilesh Yadav ji, and I am confident of winning the election under his leadership. The SP is the only party that can stop the BJP, and I felt that I wouldn’t have been able to win my seat with the Congress and in elections winning is most important.”

Asad Rehman

Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More

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Assembly elections 2022 Congress Samajwadi Party Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2022