LUCKNOW: In another setback to
Congress after the face of its 'Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon' campaign joined
BJP, its former Bareilly mayor Supriya Aron and her husband, former MP
Praveen Aron, joined SP in the presence of party president
Akhilesh Yadav at SP headquarters. SP thereafter announced Supriya Aron as party candidate from Bareilly Cantonment seat.
Interestingly Congress had also nominated Supriya as the party candidate from Bareilly Cantonment seat in the list that the grand old party had released recently.
The Arons opted for SP. Praveen had emerged as a giant-killer in 2009 when he bagged the Bareilly Lok Sabha seat, defeating
Santosh Gangwar. That was the only time since 1989 that Gangwar lost the seat till now.
“I congratulate them on joining the SP. It has strengthened our party and we will form the government,” said Akhilesh.
Among those who joined SP on Saturday was Reeta Singh, the widow of former MLA from Sandila, Late
Kunwar Mahavir Singh, who died of Covid-19 infection in April 2021. Kunwar Mahavir served two terms as BJP MLA and was appointed BJP district president as well. He had also won the 2012 Assembly polls on SP ticket but in 2017 sided with the BJP. His wife Reeta Singh is a known social worker of Sandila.
Both Supriya and Reeta would be SP candidates, Akhilesh said.