UP: Left Front announces second list of 29 candidates

The left is unlikely to win many seats, but could help in building narrative for other secular parties against BJP's economic policies
Hardnews Bureau Delhi

A day after Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi put their bonhomie on display during a joint press conference and a roadshow in Lucknow, the Left Front, comprising six Left parties, released a second list of candidates featuring a total of 29 names. It brings the total number of candidates fielded by the Left Front in UP so far to 134.

The communists were quite influential in the '70's and the '80's, but since then they have been on a steady decline. They may not make a mark electorally, but they are expected to help in sharpening the narrative against the BJP and its economic policies and perhaps help in providing talking points to other secular parties.

Among the 29 candidates in the fray, the Communist Party of India (CPI) has 18, CPI(M) has nine and Forward Bloc and SUCI have one each.

The list includes Dr. Murtaza Salmani from Muzaffarnagar, Aarti Saxena from Amritpur, Shyam Sunder Rajput from Banda, Upendra Narain Pandey from Vishwanathganj, Lalit Narain Mishra from Patti, Tribhuvan Sharma from Raniganj, Suryakant Pandey from Ayodhya, Ishwar Sharan Shukla from Gonda (Sadar), Vijay Shukla from Khalilabad, Adil Akhtar from Gorakpur (rural), Jaiprakash Kushawaha from Barhaj, Ramsoch Yadav from Mau and Ramlal from Jakhaniya, Ramshukla Ram fom Ghazipur (Sadar), Manoj Singh from Jangipur, Shamim from Zahurabad, Surendra Yadav from Mohammadabad (all from the CPI) and Dinesh Yadav from Mirzapur (all of the CPI), Satish Kumar from Salempur, Sadhusaran from Bhatparrani, Ramvriksh from Mehnagar, Sreeprasad from Chakia, Arvind Kumar from Marihan, Jagnath Maurya from Bhadoi, Dharamraj Adiwasi from Chanbey, Chiranjeev Lal Kol from Koraon, JP Shukla from Sahibabad, Kriskant Yadav from Didarganj (of  Forward Block) and Shailendra Kumar from Belthara Road (of SUCI).

The Left Front campaign in the state is expected to feature senior leaders like CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI leader D Raja, among others.

A report published in an English daily earlier had quoted CPI(M) state secretary Heerlal Yadav as saying that the Left Front will contest 140 out of 403 assembly seats in UP. He had also said that the Front will provide an alternative to the BJP which has had a history of fomenting ‘communal venom’ in the state.

(With inputs from UNI)