Cong fields Mahila Cong chief against Tripathi

Lucknow, Apr 8 (UNI) Congress has fielded All-India Mahila Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi from the Allahabad (south) seat in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Daughter of former state chief minister Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna, Ms Joshi is now pitted against BJP state unit president Kesharinath Tripathi who had been winning the seat since 1989.

Ms Joshi had contested the 1998 Lok Sabha elections from Sultanpur on a Samajwadi Party ticket.

In the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, the former mayor of Allahabad had contested from Allahabad seat against former HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi.

A UP Congress spokesperson said Ms Joshi's role as a zonal in charge of Lucknow-Faizabad divisions would temporarily be held by AICC secretary Mirza Irshad Beg.

UNI