Lucknow: Former Union minister and Congress candidate from Dhaurahra parliamentary constituency Jitin Prasada has hinted at contesting from Lucknow instead of the Dhaurahra seat. Prasada, who was on his way to the state capital via Sitapur on Thursday, was stopped by Congress workers who wanted him to contest from Dhaurahra.
“My body may be present in Lucknow but my soul will always be in Dhaurahra. Give me some time, I am standing at a political crossroads. I am going to Lucknow and will decide what I have to do,” said Prasada as he addressed Congress workers at Kanshiram Colony in Sitapur.
Earlier, there were rumours about Prasada joining the BJP after reports emerged of him being unhappy with alleged pressure from the party leadership to change his seat from Dhaurahra to Lucknow. However, he had rubbished the speculation.
Prasada was a central minister in the UPA government. As per sources, the Congress is likely to field him from Lucknow for a direct battle with Union home minister Rajnath Singh. Sources said Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the in-charge for eastern Uttar Pradesh, came up with the idea to shift Prasada from his current constituency.
Prasada, a Brahmin, hails from a prominent political family from Shahjahanpur. His father, the late Jitendra Prasada, was a Congress stalwart and had even contested the party presidential election against Sonia Gandhi. The son won his first Lok Sabha election from Shahjahanpur in 2004. In the next elections in 2009, he shifted to the newly-formed Dhaurahra constituency and won. In 2014, he lost to the BJP.
Dhaurahra is one of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state that will go to polls in seven phases, starting April 11. While the Congress has declared Prasada as its official candidate from Dhaurahra, reliable sources close to the leader say the party now wants to shift him to Lucknow.
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