Lok Sabha elections 2024: The suspense over the Moradabad Lok Sabha constituency ended on Wednesday (March 27) after sitting Member of Parliament ST Hasan cancelled his nomination and Ruchi Vira filed her nomination yesterday.
Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Ruchi Vira filed her nomination from the Moradabad constituency for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Notably, ST Hasan also filed his nomination on Tuesday (March 26) from the same seat.
After filing her nomination, Ruchi Vira said that anyone having doubts should speak to the returning officer regarding the rules."What should I say? All of you should congratulate me (for filing the nomination). I have filed my nomination from the Samajwadi Party. You should speak to the returning officer and party officials regarding the rules. I want to thank the National President of the party," she said.
District Magistrate Manvendra Singh told media, "We have received the cancellation of the form that was filed by Dr ST Hasan and a new form has been given to Ruchi Vira. As of now, she (Ruchi Vira) will be authorised."
Who is Ruchi Vira?
Ruchi Vira is a resident of Bijnor district in UP. She has obtained a degree in Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University in Bareilly. In the year 2023, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) took disciplinary action against her and expelled Ruchi from the party, after which she joined SP.
Ruchi Vira has been an MLA from Bijnor Assembly seat. In the 2014 elections, sitting MLA Kunwar Bharatendra Singh had won the 16th Lok Sabha election, after which Ruchi VIra had won from Bijnor in the by-election. She was an MLA from Bijnor between 2014 and 2017.
Property owned by SP candidate Ruchi Vira
Ruchi owns about 25 acres of land and her husband has 14 acres of land, the value of which was Rs 2.43 crore in the year 2022.There is also a plot in the name of Ruchi in Uttar Pradesh's Noida, which is worth Rs 1 crore. There is also a shop in her husband's name, which is worth Rs 2 crore. He has two houses in Delhi and Moradabad. The total price of both is around Rs 8.12 crore.
Azam Khan-mastermind behind Moradabad seat
According to sources, the senior SP leader Azam Khan is behind the change of candidate in Moradabad. The sources said he was angry with the candidature of sitting MP ST Hasan. Vira is considered a prominent member of Azam Khan's camp.
Earlier on Sunday, SP had made Deepak Saini its candidate from Bijnor in place of Yashveer Singh. Deepak Saini is the son of SP MLA from Noorpur, Ram Avtar Saini. SP so far declared candidates for 48 seats.
The SP, one of the most prominent partners of the I.N.D.I.A bloc in Uttar Pradesh that sends 80 MPs to Parliament, so far released its seventh list, announcing candidates for 48 seats.
What happened in 2019 election results?
In the 2019 general elections, SP's ST Hasan won the Moradabad seat gathering 50 per cent of votes. He defeated BJP's Kunwar Sarvesh Kumar who gathered 5,51,538 votes. Congress' Imran Pratapgarhi came on third. Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases beginning April 19.
UP to vote in 7 phases
Uttar Pradesh, which sends the maximum number of MPs, 80, to Parliament, will vote in all seven phases. Voting for phases one and two will be held on April 19 and April 26. The Uttar Pradesh electorate will also vote in phases five, six and seven on May 20, May 23, and June 1 respectively. The votes will be counted on June 4.
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