The Next-Gen of political dynasties waiting to rise on the UP horizon

Lucknow, April 21 (IANS) The ongoing Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh are witnessing the emergence of new generations from families with a history in politics.

The latest addition to the list is Neeraj Tripathi, son of the late veteran BJP leader and former Speaker Keshari Nath Tripathi, who has been named as the BJP candidate for the Allahabad Lok Sabha seat.

Neeraj Tripathi, a lawyer by profession and also the additional advocate general of the state government, has finally taken a plunge into politics. His wife Kavita has been actively involved in politics and is the office-bearer in the BJP Mahila Morcha.

Shreya Verma, the granddaughter of another political stalwart and former Union Minister, Beni Prasad Verma, has been fielded from Gonda as the Samajwadi Party candidate in her political debut.

She is banking on her grandfather’s influence among the Kurmi caste group.

Beni Prasad Verma had previously won the same Lok Sabha seat as a Congress candidate in 2009.

Lalitesh Pati Tripathi, the great-grandson of Congress stalwart Kamlapati Tripathi, is contesting from the Bhadohi seat as the lone Trinamool Congress candidate.

Lalitesh Pati quit the Congress in 2021 and is now seeking to revive the political fortunes of his family, which had almost faded into oblivion.

Shashank Mani Tripathi, the BJP candidate from Deoria, is also a third-generation member of his family to enter politics and contest his first election.

Shashank’s father, Prakash Mani Tripathi, was a Lok Sabha member from Deoria in 1996. He was also an ex-army officer.

His grandfather, Surat Narain Mani Tripathi, was an IAS officer and also a member of the Vidhan Parishad.

Zia-ur-Rehman Barq is the grandson of the late Shafiqur Rehman Barq, a sitting SP MP who passed away after his ticket from Sambhal was announced.

Zia has replaced his grandfather, Shafiqur, in Sambhal Lok Sabha constituency as the SP candidate.

Similarly, Iqra Hasan, the granddaughter of the late Congress stalwart Chaudhary Akhtar Hasan and the daughter of SP leader late Munawwar Hasan and Tabassum Hasan is continuing her family’s political legacy by entering the electoral arena as an SP candidate from Kairana. Her brother Nahid Hasan is currently a sitting MLA from the Kairana Assembly segment.

Another Congress MP and former UP bureaucrat, P.L. Punia’s son, Tanuj Punia, is also testing his luck in place of his father from Barabanki as the Congress candidate.

Shivpal Yadav’s son Aditya Yadav is also making his electoral debut from the Budaun seat. Aditya has waited long enough to take a plunge into politics and is being groomed by the family for his new career.

Apart from this, Arvind Rajbhar, the son of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, is making his political debut from the Ghosi Lok Sabha seat.

O.P. Rajbhar is an MLA from the Zahoorabad Assembly seat and holds a cabinet minister position in the BJP government in the state.

While, Union Minister and Apna Dal(S) leader, Anupriya Patel, is the sitting MP from Mirzapur, her estranged sister Pallavi Patel is preparing to enter the electoral fray from either Phulpur or Pratapgarh parliamentary constituency.

Pallavi, who belongs to the rival Apna Dal(K) faction of the party, will be contesting in alliance with AIMIM.