Charity begins at home and this is exactly what these members of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh are practising right now.
Most of the MPs are busy supervising their wives’ and sons’ campaigns and most of them are not concerned about the party’s campaign in the rest of the state. They are working overtime in their wives’ constituencies. Interes-tingly, the Congress has maximum number of such politically ambitious couples.
Union law minister Salman Khurshid has been lending “tacit” support to wife Louise Khurshid’s campaign in Farukkhabad. Though he is dividing time between his ministerial responsibilities and other duties, his entire team of supporters is working for Louise. Congress MP from Sultanpur, Dr Sanjay Singh, is also stationed in Amethi, supervising his wife Ameeta Singh’s campaign in Amethi. Ameeta Singh is by now a veteran in politics but that does not prevent her from keeping herself and her husband fully tied up with poll preparations.
Another Congress MP who is working in his wife’s campaign is Praveen Aron from Bareilly. His wife Surpiya Aron, also mayor of Bareilly, is in the fray and the MP husband is leaving no stone unturned to ensure his wife’s journey to the state Assembly.
The next in line is Congress MP, Kamal Kishore of Bahraich, whose wife, Poonam Kishore is contesting from Shravasti. A first time MP himself, Kamal Kishore is campaigning vigorously for his wife who is also a novice in politics.
BJP MP Ramakant Yadav also has his hands full in this election season. His wife Ranjana Yadav is contesting from the Nizamabad seat while son Arun Yadav is a candidate from Jalalpur.
The MP is personally supervising the campaign of both and keeping a close watch on the “grey areas” in the constituencies.
BSP MP Brijesh Pathak is managing his wife, Namrata Pathak’s campaign in Unnao since this marks her debut in politics.
In Basgaon, BJP MP Kamlesh Paswan is busy campaigning for his mother Subhawati Paswan while in Lucknow, BJP MP Lalji Tandon is overseeing son Ashutosh Tandon’s electioneering. Ashutosh is contesting the newly-created Lucknow North seat.
Kalyan Singh, an Independent, MP, is managing the affairs of his Jan Kranti Party and also the campaign of son, Rajvir, who is contesting the Dibai seat and daughter-in-law, Premlata, who is contesting the Atrauli seat.