LUCKNOW: After Samajwadi Party, the Congress has also fielded a female candidate against Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath from the Gorakhpur Urban seat.
The candidate Chetna Pandey’s name was announced with 32 others in the ninth list of candidates released by the Congress party on Thursday. Incidentally, Chetna had been associated with the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad and had campaigned for CM Yogi Adityanath for some time before joining Congress in 2019.
Earlier, the Samajwadi Party had given ticket to Shubhawati Shukla, the widow of former BJP leader Upendra Shukla.
Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said that Chetna has been active in politics for over a decade now. The 38-year-old woman was elected as the vice-president of Gorakhpur university in 2005 and has committed herself to public interest since then.
The list of 33 has 15 women, which is in congruence with the party’s commitment of reserving their 40 per cent tickets for women.
Talking to reporters, Chetna said that she would be fighting on the issue of development. “A lot needs to be done to bring about real change in Gorakhpur. Whatever initiatives have been taken are cosmetic and far from the real people in need.”
Chetna is a resident of Majgawan area in Gorakhpur. Her father worked in the Indian Railways. She has been working for women in 11 districts of Purvanchal for several years now. Chetna also writes Hindi poetry and is a popular participant in the region.
