It’s youth vs experience in Prayagraj region
In fray are candidates as young as 27-yearsold, as well as experienced leaders aged between 65 and 71 years.
PRAYAGRAJ: From youngsters to senior citizens, the poll fray in Prayagraj region has candidates on both edges of the age spectrum vying to get elected to the legislative assembly this year.
“A total of 169 candidates are in the fray from 12 assembly constituencies of Prayagraj. The election campaign is slowly gaining momentum. The voters this time have a wide choice of choosing candidates as young as 27-year-old to experienced leaders aged between 65 and 71 years,” said Prof MP Dube, a noted political analyst and former vice-chancellor of Uttar Pradesh Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UPRTOU).
Pratappur is the only seat in the district where two candidates of major parties have crossed the age of 60, whereas, on seats like Allahabad North, Allahabad South and Karachhana, most of the young candidates are in the fray, he added.
On the Allahabad North seat, Congress’s Anugrah Narayan Singh, at 70 plus years, is the oldest and most experienced candidate in the fray. Active in politics since student life, Anugrah has been an MLA from this seat four times. Harshvardhan Bajpai of BJP also in the fray from here, who became an MLA by defeating Anugrah in the last election, is aged 40. The age of Sandeep Yadav of SP is 32, while that of BSP’s Sanjay Goswami is 58 years old. This is the first assembly election for both Sandeep and Sanjay.
“Having a senior candidate like Anugrah Narayan Singh and others, as well as youngsters like me, give a wide array of choices to the voters and in the end only strengthens our democracy,” said SP candidate Sandeep Yadav.
On Allahabad South seat, BJP’s Nand Gopal Gupta “Nandi”, a two-time MLA and a cabinet minister both times, is 47 years old, while BSP’s Devendra Mishra, who is contesting his first assembly election, is 55 years old. Congress’s Alpana Nishad, who has entered the fray for the first time, is 36-year-old and the SP candidate Raish Chandra Shukla is 60 years old.
All candidates of major political parties on the Allahabad West seat are below 60 years of age. The age of cabinet minister and BJP candidate Sidharth Nath Singh and Congress’s Tasleemudin is 58 years, while Ghulam Qadir of BSP is 48 years old. SP’s Richa Singh, 35, who joined the mainstream of politics after being elected as the first woman president of the AU Students’ Union, is the youngest candidate of the four major parties.
On Meja seat, BJP MLA Neelam Karwariya, 52, is the oldest, while Congress’s Shalini Dwivedi is the youngest at 27 years old among the four major political parties.
SP’s Sandeep Patel is 51 years, and BSP’s Sarvesh Chandra Tiwari is 37.
Likewise, on Bara seat, Apna Dal (Sonelal) and BJP combine candidate Vachaspati’s is 65 years old, while BSP’s Ajay Kumar is 53 and SP’s Ajay is 44 years old. Congress’s Manju Sant is 42 years old.
Handia seat has Congress’s Reena Kumari aged 30, while BSP’s Narendra Kumar is 55, SP candidate and MLA Hakim Lal Bind is 44 and BJP’s ally Nishad Party candidate Prashant Kumar Singh is 35 years old.
The Koraon constituency has candidates of all major parties aged between 57 and 61 years. Congress’s Ram Kripal and SP’s Ramdev are 57, BSP’s Rajbali Jaisal is 58 and BJP’s Rajmani Kol is aged 61.
On Karachhana seat, Congress’s Rinki Patel, 28, is the youngest candidate in the fray. “Being a woman and younger than other candidates enabled me to connect well with the voters, who see me as someone determined to address the issues and concerns of all ages groups and communities,” said Rinki Patel.
She is up against BJP’s Piyush Ranjan Nishad and SP’s Ujjwal Raman Singh who are 49 years old. At the same time, Arvind Kumar of BSP, in the fray, is 41 years old.
On Phaphamau seat BJP’s Guru Prasad Maurya is 53 years old. SP’s Ansar Ahmed is 67 years old, while BSP’s Om Prakash is 44 even as Congress’s Durgesh Pandey is 46 years old.
Similarly, Phulpur has BJP’s Praveen Singh aged 43, Congress’s Siddhanath at 45, SP’s Mujtaba Siddiqui aged 66 and BSP’s Ramtoulan Yadav aged 48, while the Pratappur seat has Sanjay Tiwari of Congress and Vijma Yadav of SP aged 51 whereas Apna Dal (S) candidate Rakesh Dhar Tripathi is 71 years old and BSP’s Ghanshyam Pandey is 65 years old.
Soraon seat also has Apna Dal (S) candidate Jamuna Prasad, who is 52 years old, while Congress’s Manoj Kumar at 31. BSP’s Anand Bhartiya is 38 years old, and SP’s Geeta Shastri is 57.