Uttar Pradesh assembly elections: New faces and veterans

BJP, Baldeo (Scheduled Caste)

BJP National secretary wins ticket: Associated with the BJP over two decades since age 16, Sharma, now 40, won his first assembly poll ticket Monday. The seat, Baldeo, is a reserved one in Mathura, Sharma’s home. A product of the RSS student wing ABVP, he has risen sharply in the BJP since Amit Shah became party president. Sharma is currently BJP national secretary and media convener. Sharma studied in Mathura and later Delhi, where he emerged a prominent voice in the ABVP. Baldeo constituency, currently represented by Pooran Prakash of RLD, has a mixed electorate and Sharma has promised he would focus on good governance and all-round development.- by Ishita Mishra

Vipin Verma (David)

BJP, Etah

Lodh leader in Yadav stronghold: Associated with the BJP for over a decade, Verma, now 46, is contesting for the first time. Verma is an Arts graduate from Delhi University and has been with ABVP, the RSS student wing. Currently a BJP state executive member, he was once vice-president of the party’s Braj regional unit. Etah is currently represented by the Samajwadi Party’s Ashish Kumar Yadav. The dominant population in the seat are Yadavs, followed by Lodh voters — Verma’s community. The MP from Etah is the BJP’s Rajveer Singh, son of former chief minister Kalyan Singh; they belong to the Lodh community. Verma has promised voters good governance and balanced development. — by Lalmani Verma

Laxmikant Bajpai

BJP, Meerut

FORMER UP BJP CHIEF: Bajpai is four-term MLA and former state president of the BJP. He was first elected an MLA in 1989. In the Mayawati-headed BSP-BJP coalition government of 2002, Bajpai was minister of state (independent charge) for animal husbandry and dairy development. An Ayurvedic doctor, he was made the state president of the BJP in April 2012. He was in charge of the UP unit during the BJP’s 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign. Bajpai was replaced by Keshav Maurya last year.– By Lalmani Verma

Mriganka Singh

BJP, Kairana

HUKUM SINGH’S DAUGHTER: Mriganka is the daughter of MP Hukum Singh, who had made an issue out of what he called a “Hindu exodus” from Kairana. Hukum Singh’s Lok Sabha seat is Kairana, which includes a segment of the same name, where the BJP has now fielded his daughter. Mriganka Singh, however, is not a familiar face in Kairana, having studied outside. Now the owner of a school, Singh has replaced her cousin Anil Chauhan, who was in the BJP until he joined the RLD last week. Chauhan, who lost the assembly poll to Kairana in 2014, has now accused the BJP of “promoting” dynastic politics by fielding Mriganka Singh. -By Ishita Mishra

Shashank Shekhar Singh “Sunny”

BSP, Bhagwant Nagar

LATE SP LEADER’s SON: Shashank, 25, is a son of former Samajwadi Party MLC Ajit Singh who was murdered in Unnao in 2004. Ajit Singh was known as a strongman in his area. Shashank, his elder son, who turned 25 last November, will contest his first election. He is a graduate in business administration from Amity University and is studying MBA through correspondence from Sikkim Manipal University. “I decided to join BSP and contest the election to continue the legacy of my father,” he said. The seat is currently represented by Kuldeep Singh Sengar who won in 2012 as an SP nominee but has joined the BJP.– By Ramendra Singh.

Shyam Sundar Sharma

BSP, Mant

SEVEN TERMS, MANY PARTIES: Sharma has won Mant seat of Mathura district seven times. He first won it in 1989 on a Congress ticket. In 1996, he contested as a nominee of AIIC(T), a breakaway group led by N D Tiwari. In 2002 and 2007, he won as a nominee of Akhil Bharatiya Loktantrik Congress founded by Jagdambika Pal and others. Before the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, he joined the BSP and contested from Mathura but lost to RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary. In 2012, BSP denied ticket to him and he joined the Trinamool Congress but lost to Chaudhary. However, when Chaudhary vacated the assembly seat to continue as Lok Sabha MP, Sharma won the byelection. He gave the TMC its first seat in Uttar Pradesh and was appointed the party’s state president. He again joined the BSP in June last year. –By Ramendra Singh

Dr Anita Rajput

BJP, Debai

IN KALYAN SINGH’S DOMAIN: Rajput, 46, is a local BJP worker. She has a doctorate in plant pathology from the Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology. Her husband runs a business of manufacturing electrical equipment in Noida. BJP stalwart Kalyan Singh and his family members have been contesting from Debai since 1996. His son Rajveer had lost the seat to Bhagwan Sharma in 2007 and 2012. Rajput, who is from the Lodh caste to which Kalyan belongs, said she has the support of the family of the former Uttar Pradesh CM. She said she has been working in the BJP for the last three years. Rajput said she was born in Agra but her in-laws are based in Debai.–By Ramendra Singh

Jal Devi, 92
Independent, Kheragarh

HER SON HER RIVAL: At 92, Jal Devi is possibly the oldest of UP’s candidates so far. She filed her nomination Tuesday, for Kheragarh in Agra that goes to polls on February 11. Devi, of Kathumari village, is also a zila panchayat member of Jagner block. This will be her first assembly election. “She could hardly walk, so we carried her into the collectorate office and she filed her nomination papers from a wheelchair,” said her son Ramnath Sen Sikarwar, a farmer. Interestingly, Ramnath, 50, too filed his papers for the same seat. “I will withdraw if my mother asks me to,” said Ramnath. He claimed he has been working for people’s rights in the area for a decade. — Manish Sahu

Neelima Katiyar
BJP, Kalyanpur

Activist and daughter of veteran: She is the daughter of Premlata Katiyar, a former minister in Uttar Pradesh and a former vice-president of the BJP’s state unit. The BJP ticket for her first election is for Kalyanpur in Kanpur, a seat represented by her mother for five terms until 2012, when she lost to the SP. Neelima has a background in the RSS, its student wing ABVP, and the BJP youth wing BJYM, her mother told The Indian Express. Neelima has earned a reputation as an activist in Kanpur, taking up issues relating to women and crime. — Ishita Mishra

Jagan Prasad Garg
BJP, Agra North

Attempt at fifth straight term: Garg is well known in Agra as the owner of a hotel and dairy. He has been MLA four consecutive times, beginning with a bypoll victory from Agra East in 1998, followed by victories in 2002, 2007 and 2012 (Agra North, with Agra East ceasing to exist). The constituency has a sizeable population of the Vashya community, to which Garg belongs. — Ishita Mishra

Swati Singh
BJP, Sarojini Nagar

SACKED LEADER DAYASHANKAR’S WIFE: Swati Singh, 38, was appointed BJP Mahila Morcha state president in October last year, some three months after the party had expelled her husband Dayashankar Singh, then state BJP vice-president, for making a controversial remark against BSP chief Mayawati. Sarojini Nagar, where Swati is being fielded for her first election, is part of Lucknow. The ticket comes after she had continued the battle against the BSP, holding public meetings and accusing BSP leaders of making objectionable remarks against her minor daughter and mother-in-law during a protest in Lucknow in July. Swati has filed a case against BSP leaders for such alleged remarks. A postgraduate in law from Lucknow University, Swati had earlier announced that she was ready to contest against Mayawati herself.  — Lalmani Verma