The Indian National Congress (INC,) on the 16th of April, announced Acharya Pramod Krishnam as its Member of Parliament (MP) candidate from Lucknow, in Uttar Pradesh.
Pramod Krishnam will now compete against Rajnath Singh, the Home Minister of India and the MP candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Lucknow.
Previously, it was speculated, the INC will not contest the Lucknow seat, however, the speculations came to an end when the INC chose Pramod Krishnam.
The announcement of the INC came after Poonam Sinha, the wife of Shatrughan Sinha, joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) as the contestant against Rajnath Singh.
Rajnath Singh was the first candidate to file his nomination in Lucknow.
Pramod Krishnam is the founder of Shri Kalki Foundation and Pitadhishwar of Kalkidham in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh.
Krishnam also contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Sambhal, however, he was defeated by Rajnath Singh, the BJP candidate.
In 2014, Rajnath Singh contested the Lok Sabha elections and went on to win them and become the MP of Lucknow.
Zeeshan Haider, the spokesperson of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC,) said, “Krishnam will file his nomination papers here on Thursday.”
Ms. Poonam is also expected to file her nomination papers in Lucknow, on the 18th of April, which is also the last date of filing nominations for the Lucknow constituency.
Uttar Pradesh will contest a total of 80 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, divided into 7 phases. Out of the 80 seats, the State contested a total of 10 seats on the 11th of April, in the first phase of the elections. The polling for the remaining 70 seats will be conducted in 6 phases, scheduled on the 18th of April, 23rd of April, 29th of April, 6th of May, 12th of May and the 19th of May 2019.
The major parties contesting the Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha elections are the Indian National Congress (INC,) the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the grand alliance of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP.)
The results of the Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha elections will be announced on the 23rd of May 2019.
Stay tuned for further updates about the Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha elections.
