BJP leaders start throwing their hat for Lucknow Cantonment seat

Dr Joshi was MLA from Lucknow Cantonment but had won Lok Sabha seat from Allahabad.

A senior BJP leader said here on Sunday that it is only three days since the result has been announced leaders have already backing their candidature for the Lucknow Cantonment seat which Rita Bahuguna Joshi will vacate within next six months.

There are many contenders for the seat which include Suresh Tiwari, former MLA from Lucknow Cantonment, whom Rita had replaced. Prashant Bhatia, son of Lucknow Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia, and Mayank Joshi, son of Rita Bahuguna Joshi seems to be the front runner for the post.

All the three belong to political family. Prashant Bhatia’s father Satish Bhatia was the former MLA and very popular figure. After his death his wife Sanyukta Bhatia was roped in BJP and was made BJP Mahila Committee Chairman. On 2017 she was elected as Mayor of Lucknow.

“Prashant Bhatia seems to be a good name and enjoys RSS backing too. But as his mother is Mayor of Lucknow it will be difficult for him to get party nod that too for a seat from Lucknow,” the BJP leader said.

Sources also say that Rita Bahuguna Joshi is putting her weight behind her son Mayank Joshi. She has met senior BJP leaders and pleading her son’s case.

Suresh Tiwari, a former MLA, is the third contender of the seat. “There is no denying fact that he is very popular leader and therefore was elected MLA from Lucknow cantonment area. But he lost favour of BJP leadership after he lost two subsequent elections of 2007 and 2012,” the leader said adding that in 2017 Dr Rita Bahuguna Joshi who joined BJP after quitting Congress was given ticket and she emerged victorious.

Altogether 11 by-elections are expected in UP after same number of sitting MLAs won elections in UP this time. This include Rita Bahuguna Joshi, animal husbandry minister SPS Baghel, khadi gramodhyog minister Satyadeo Pachauri, SP leader Azam Khan and BSP leader Ritesh Pandey.