LUCKNOW: As the elections in Uttar Pradesh roll towards the finale, more sons of politicians are entering the fray.
Despite launching a campaign against nepotism and targeting the Samajwadi Party, the BJP has not hesitated to field children of its leaders.
Gaurav Verma, will test political waters from Kaiserganj (Bahraich), the seat represented by his father and a cabinet minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, Mukut Behari Verma.
A former RSS functionary, Verma, 76, has made way for his son after representing Kaiserganj thrice (2002, 2012 and 2017).
Gaurav is a lawyer but takes care of his father's business.
Ashok Kori is contesting on a BJP ticket from Salon reserved seat (Rae Bareli), represented by his father Dal Bahadur Kori, who succumbed to Covid in May last year. Dal Bahadur had won the Salon seat thrice (1991, 1993 and 2017) on a BJP ticket.
Ashok, 42, who resigned from Air India's security department, said that he assisted his father since a very young age. "In that sense, I am an old worker of the BJP," he said.
Likewise, Kamal Kant Rajbhar will take the political plunge on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket from Didarganj Assembly seat, represented by his father and senior BSP leader Sukhdev Rajbhar, who passed away after a prolonged illness in October last year.
Rajbhar was Vidhan Sabha Speaker during the Mayawati regime.
Ramakant, however, drifted towards the SP when his father was alive. Rajbhar then quit politics while endorsing his son's decision. Sukhdev, a five-time MLA from Lalganj and Didarganj, was a state minister in 1993-95 during the coalition government of the SP and BSP. He was also a minister in Kalyan Singh government in 1997.
Similarly, Lucky Yadav, son of Samajwadi Party leader, late Paras Nath Yadav, will take over his father's legacy and contest from the Malhani seat in Jaunpur. Paras Nath, a seven-time MLA and a two-time MP from Jaunpur, died in June 2020 after contracting Covid.