Lucknow to get its first woman mayor in 100 years
The Samajwadi Party has selected Meera Vardhan, kin of educationist Acharya Narendra Dev and the Congress has pitched Prema Awasthi, wife of the former Congress legislator Surendra Nath, as mayoral candidates.
Uttar Pradesh has already given India its first woman governor and chief minister but Lucknow is set to make history on Sunday by electing its first woman mayor in 100 years.
Freedom fighters Sarojini Naidu and Sucheta Kriplani were the country’s first woman governor and chief minister respectively.
A woman has never before been elected as head of the municipal body. This time, however, the Lucknow mayoral seat has been reserved for women, hence all parties have fielded women candidates.
The city got its chance to elect a woman mayor 100 years after the Uttar Pradesh Municipalities Act came into existence.
The Samajwadi Party has selected Meera Vardhan, kin of educationist Acharya Narendra Dev and the Congress has pitched Prema Awasthi, wife of the former Congress legislator Surendra Nath.
The civic polls will be held in the state capital Sunday in the second leg of the three-phase municipal elections across Uttar Pradesh.
Lucknow has thrice sent a woman to the Lok Sabha as its representative with Sheila Kaul being elected in 1971, 1980 and 1984.