Noida, Jan 24 (PTI) Kairana will see Iqra Chaudhary pitted against her controversial brother and sitting Samajwadi Party MLA Nahid Hasan for the assembly election in one of the most keenly-watched constituencies in Uttar Pradesh.
The 27-year-old Iqra had filed her nomination as an independent candidate on January 21 and her candidature has been approved, according to the Election Commission.
She had also filed a nomination as a Samajwadi Party candidate but that has been rejected, the EC website showed.
The candidature of Samajwadi Party’s Nahid Hasan, who had filed nomination on January 14, has also been approved, it showed.
Besides the siblings BJP’s Mriganka Singh, who was the runner up in 2017 polls, nine other candidates, including four independent nominees, are in the fray from Kairana.
While nomination and scrutiny is over, the last date for withdrawal of candidature is January 27, according to the EC schedule for the constituencies going to poll on February 10 in the first phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Hasan was arrested on January 16 in connection with a 2021 case at the Kairana Kotwali under the UP Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act and sent to 14 days judicial custody.
The development had led to speculation that Samajwadi Party would cancel the candidature of Hasan and instead field his sister Iqra from the seat.
In her affidavit, seen by PTI, Iqra has declared that she has no criminal case against her and also stated agriculture as her source of income.
Iqra also mentioned that she graduated from the Delhi University in 2015 and completed her Masters in International Politics from SOAS London University in 2020.
Both Iqra and Nahid are children of Chaudhary Munawwar Hasan, who was a two-term MLA from Kairana and two-term Lok Sabha MP from Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh. He had died in a road crash in 2008.
Kairana in Shamli district had grabbed headlines following the riots in adjoining Muzaffarnagar in 2013.
Several Hindu families were reported to have migrated from Kairana during 2014-2016 allegedly due to harassment by members of another community when the Samajwadi Party was in power in the state.
While the BJP stormed into power after the 2017 elections, the Kairana seat was won by SP’s Nahid Hasan.
Kairana goes to poll on February 10 during the first phase of the elections in Uttar Pradesh and results will be declared on March 10. PTI KIS DV DV
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Source: The Print
