LUCKNOW: Convicted in the 2003 murder of poet Madhumita Shukla and released from prison in 2023, former Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi on Sunday announced his return to active politics and said he would contest the 2027 Assembly elections from Pharenda.
Addressing a public interaction programme in Maharajganj, Tripathi also announced that his son and former MLA Amanmani Tripathi would contest from Nautanwa.
"I will contest from Pharenda in 2027. Amanmani will contest from Nautanwa. If there is anyone who can take him on, let me know," he said.
Amarmani said his family's relationship with the people extended beyond elections and highlighted his long association with the Pharenda constituency.
"We have remained among the people for a long time and will continue to stand by them in their joys and sorrows," he said.
Referring to the influence of young voters, he claimed that youth-led movements had brought political change in neighbouring countries.
Former minister of state Shyam Narayan Tiwari and a large number of supporters attended the programme.
Amanmani Tripathi appealed to the gathering to support his father in Pharenda and himself in Nautanwa. He also targeted political rivals, including Congress MLA Virendra Chaudhary and former BJP MLA Bajrang Bahadur Singh.
Neither Amarmani nor Amanmani said which political party they would contest on behalf of.
Amarmani's political career came to a halt in 2007 after he was convicted in the Madhumita Shukla murder case. He won the Nautanwa Assembly seat on a Samajwadi Party ticket while in jail but later lost his seat after a Dehradun court sentenced him and his wife, Madhumani Tripathi, to life imprisonment.
The couple remained in prison until their release in 2023. During his imprisonment, Amarmani spent nearly a decade at BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur after being shifted there for treatment in 2013.
Despite being in custody, he remained influential in local politics and is widely credited with guiding Amanmani Tripathi's successful independent campaign in the 2017 Assembly elections.
His announcement has renewed speculation over the family's political role in Maharajganj ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.