The Supreme Court order debarring Sanjay Dutt from contesting the LS elections from Lucknow will worsen relations between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress.
The Supreme Court (SC) order debarring Sanjay Dutt from contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow will worsen relations between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress.
Lucknow is likely to witness an acrimonious electoral battle between the two parties which have already launched a fresh search for candidates. The Congress was quick on the draw. Digvijay Singh, AICC general secretary in-charge of UP, said the Congress will put up a candidate in Lucknow. “We had decided to leave the seat for Dutt. But since he is no longer in the fray, there is no reason why the Congress will not field a candidate in Lucknow,” he said.
Asked what if Dutt’s wife Maanyata were to contest from Lucknow, Singh said: “The understanding was for Sanjay Dutt only.”
Prominent names doing the rounds are those of Karan Singh, who contested from Lucknow in 1999 against then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Nafisa Ali, who contested on a Congress ticket from south Kolkata in 2004, and former Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Yogendra Narain.
When SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav was asked about Dutt’s replacement, he said the decision would be taken by the party’s parliamentary board. This was in stark contrast to what he and Amar Singh said earlier that in case Dutt was denied permission to contest, Maanyata would take his place. Mulayam ruled out Jaya Bachchan’s candidature for Lucknow. SP sources said Jaya Prada, party MP from Rampur, was being considered.
The sources said Dutt was not keen on fielding Maanyata because of her messy divorce with her first husband. He fears that exposing Maanyata to public scrutiny would prove disastrous. “Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh will decide the candidate,” the actor told reporters here after the SC order. “I am not going to leave Lucknow. This is my father’s city. I will stay here and work for the people,” he said.
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