In UP's Maharajganj, daughters of two influential families pitted against each other

Lucknow, April 03: With the Lok Sabha elections nearing, daughters of two influential families have returned to the badlands of eastern Uttar Pradesh to reclaim the political legacy of their fathers.

The Congress party has fielded TV anchor Supriya Srinet, who is a daughter of late Harsh Vardhan the two-time Congress MP from Maharajganj and a member of the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Defence, from Maharajganj seat in Uttar Pradesh.

Soon after the announcement of her candidature, Supriya Shrinate, who formerly worked with business news channel ET Now, tweeted, "I will be taking an active plunge in politics, am grateful to @INCIndia @RahulGandhi @priyankagandhi @JM_Scindhia for trusting me with Maharajganj. It will be an honour to keep my late father's legacy alive. I look forward to making a meaningful contribution."

Surpiya Shrinate has done her schooling from Loreto Convent in Lucknow, after which she went on to do her graduation from Lucknow University in political science, history and economics.

While, Tanushree Tripathi, daughter of former MLA and strongman Amar Mani Tripathi, who is currently serving a life term in connection with the murder of poetess Madhumita Shukla, is representing Shivpal Yadav's Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party.

Tanushree , possesses a Master's degree in international relations from London. She is all set to get married later this month but is nevertheless contesting elections from the Maharajganj Lok Sabha seat.

Tanushree's brother Aman Mani Tripathi is an independent MLA from Nautanwa Assembly segment in Maharajganj district. He is also an accused in the murder of his wife Sara Singh and the CBI is investigating the matter.

In 2017, when Aman Mani contested the Assembly elections from jail, it was Tanushree who campaigned for him along with her sister Alankrita.

Meanwhile, the sitting BJP MP Pankaj Chowdhary is confident of winning the seat a sixth time. Earlier, he won the seat in 1991, 1996, 1998, 2004 and 2014. In 2009, Pankaj faced defeat at the hand of Harshwardhan Singh, who had won his first election from the seat on a Janta Dal ticket way back in 1989. His daughter, Srinet, a TV anchor, is tasked with wresting the seat back from the BJP.

However, this is the first time that women candidates have taken centre stage in Maharajganj which remains steeped in backwardness.