UP urban local body elections: Women candidates on reserved mayoral seats
Of the total 17 mayoral positions, five have been reserved for women candidates.
Uttar Pradesh urban local body elections are set to take place in two phases on May 4 and 11 for a total of 14,684 posts. As many as 17 seats across UP will witness a tough poll battle between the candidates for the mayoral positions, among which the result of some key seats are very significant since they are either political strongholds of a particular party or have been in news for major political events recently and are seen crucial to gauge urban voters’ sentiments ahead of next year’s general election.
Out of all the mayoral seats in Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, Kanpur, and Ghaziabad have reserved seats for women, while Agra has a reserved seat for a woman candidate belonging to the Scheduled Caste category, and Firozabad for a woman candidate belonging to the Other Backward Class category. Apart from these seats, women candidates are contesting in the remaining seats as well. Overall, the number of seats reserved for women has gone up from 255 to 288 this time – indicating a push for their representation in the political domain.
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Meanwhile, the political parties have revealed their mayoral candidates for the phase one of the election on May 4. The 37 districts of Saharanpur, Moradabad, Agra, Jhansi, Prayagraj, Lucknow, Devipatan, Gorakhpur and Varanasi divisions would go to polls in the first phase.
A look at the women candidates in phase one election on reserved seats:
Lucknow: Sushma Kharkwal, BJP’s candidate for Lucknow, is a party state executive member and the wife of a retired army personnel and an old party hand. Meanwhile, the BSP has trusted party leader Shahin Bano with the capital city. The Samajwadi party has fielded Vandana Mishra.
{{/usCountry}}Lucknow: Sushma Kharkwal, BJP’s candidate for Lucknow, is a party state executive member and the wife of a retired army personnel and an old party hand. Meanwhile, the BSP has trusted party leader Shahin Bano with the capital city. The Samajwadi party has fielded Vandana Mishra.
{{/usCountry}}Agra: Lalita Jatav has been named SP candidate from Agra. It’s one of the five seats reserved for women but from a Scheduled Caste category. Agra, also termed Dalit capital, has a strong dominance of the Jatav community among SC voters. Meanwhile, the BJP has fielded Hemlata Diwaker, a former Dalit lawmaker from the seat. The BSP has nominated Lata as its candidate for the mayor's post in the city.
{{/usCountry}}Agra: Lalita Jatav has been named SP candidate from Agra. It’s one of the five seats reserved for women but from a Scheduled Caste category. Agra, also termed Dalit capital, has a strong dominance of the Jatav community among SC voters. Meanwhile, the BJP has fielded Hemlata Diwaker, a former Dalit lawmaker from the seat. The BSP has nominated Lata as its candidate for the mayor's post in the city.
{{/usCountry}}Firozabad: The BSP has fielded Rukhsana Begum from here meanwhile, the BJP has fielded Kamini Rathore. The Aam Aadmi Party has chosen Rajkumari Verma as its candidate and the SP Mashrur Fatima, to contest the election from Firozabad.
{{/usCountry}}Firozabad: The BSP has fielded Rukhsana Begum from here meanwhile, the BJP has fielded Kamini Rathore. The Aam Aadmi Party has chosen Rajkumari Verma as its candidate and the SP Mashrur Fatima, to contest the election from Firozabad.
{{/usCountry}}More names will be added as the parties release further list of candidates, meanwhile, the remaining seats will fight election in phase two. Meerut, Bareilly, Aligarh, Kanpur, Chitrakoot, Ayodhya, Basti, Azamgarh and Mirzapur will hold elections on May 11. The counting of votes will be done on May 13.
(With PTI, bureau inputs)
