Allahabad, which has been home to five Prime Ministers of the country, has now turned into a vibrant kaleidoscope with candidates belonging to different spectrum of society.
Political heirs, a cricketer, a mayor, a widow, a former student leader and candidates facing criminal charges are in the fray making the electoral contests in the district rather interesting.
Shekhar Bahuguna, son of former chief minister Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, is contesting the Phaphamu seat and the fact that his sister Rita Bahuguna Joshi is the UPCC president adds to his stature.
Budding cricketer Jyoti Yadav, a Ranji skipper, is the Samajwadi candidate from Allahabad West. A protégé of SP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav, Jyoti’s father Gopal Das Yadav had represented the constituency from 1985-89.
“Politics is in my blood and cricket is my love — I will manage both without doing injustice to either,” he says confidently.
On the Allahabad West seat, another key contestant is BSP MLA Puja Pal whose husband, Raju Pal was shot dead in a gruesome incident in January 2005. Puja, then newly married, was widowed barely nine days after the wedding.
“I have done as much as I could for the people of my constituency. Moreover, during the BSP regime, criminals elements could not enter Allahabad and people led a peaceful life here,” she says sounding much more confident than ever. Interestingly, Puja Pal will also be challenging former Samajwadi Party MP and five time legislator Ateeq Ahmad, who has already spent the past few year in jail on charges of murdering her husband Raju Pal. Ateeq Ahmad, a well known mafia don of the region, is contesting the Allahabad West seat.