Jaya Prada says 'Rampur against dynasty politics' while voting in UP

While the major Assembly polls are underway in Maharashtra and Haryana, BJP leader Jaya Prada, on Monday, exercised her democratic right and cast her vote in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. After voting, she spoke to reporters outside the poll booth, saying that the people of Rampur did not want dynasty politics. She added there was a need for change in the constituency by putting a stop to dynasty politics.

Jaya Prada votes in by-polls

"Voting is our right. Every family should come out and vote. People want no parivaarvad (dynastism). We need to bring a change by putting a stop to dynasty politics," she said.

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Rampur by-polls

Rampur constituency currently does not have a sitting MLA after the seat was vacated by Samajwadi Party's Azam Khan, who won the Lok Sabha polls in May. In the by-polls, the Samajwadi Party has fielded Azam Khan's wife Tanzeen Fatima against BJP's Bhushan Gupta. The seat which has been held by Samajwadi and Khan since 2002, is considered a safe seat for the Akhilesh Yadav-led party. Yadav has campaigned only on this seat in the by-elections, highlighting Rampur's importance.

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Rampur Lok Sabha elections

Meanwhile, during the Lok Sabha battle, SP's Azam Khan had a comfortable victory with 52.71 percent votes against BJP's Jaya Prada who came second close with 42.34 percent votes. Witnessing a triangular battle this election between SP’s Azam Khan, BJP’s Jaya Prada and Congress’s Sanjay Kapoor in 2019, Rampur Lok Sabha constituency was won by  Jaya Prada in 2004 and 2009, however, on a Samajwadi Party ticket. The Lok Sabha constituency saw a bitter war of words in 2019 between the two significant opponents - Samajwadi Party strongman Azam Khan and BJP's newly-inducted actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada.

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Uttar Pradesh by-polls

Bypolls are set to be held in 11 Assembly seats in the state on October 21, 2019. The counting for the byelection is slated for October 24, 2019. The 11 seats up for byelections include Pratapgarh, Lucknow Cantt, Rampur, Gangoh, Govindpur, Jalalpur, Zaidpur, Iglas, Manikpur, Ghosi, and Balham. BSP is set to contest on all seats independently after Mayawati broke the Gathbandhan in May. Meanwhile, BJP and Samajwadi Party have asked their respective alliance partners to field the candidates in some constituencies. Congress, on the other hand, is eyeing a comeback, cashing in on the SP-BJP major tussle ahead of state assembly polls in 2022. 

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