Lucknow, Dec 21: With major political parties keen to show their political strength ahead of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls in 2012, the latest person to jump into the poll fray is Jaya Prada. The decision was made by ousted Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh. She will contest under the Rashtriya Lok Manch banner against SP leader and rival Azam Khan in the polls.

Jaya Prada is also an MP from Rampur. Azam Khan has been at loggerheads with Jaya Prada for a while now. The tiff dating back to the parliamentary elections in 2009 saw Khan backing the wife of slain Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare, Kavita Karkare as the SP candidate from Rampur. The SP snubbed his idea and fielded Jaya Prada instead and she won from the Rampur constituency. She was the sitting MP from Rampur then. This thumping win led to the ouster of Azam Khan from the SP.

According to party general secretary, Arvind Singh, Amar Singh’s party decided to field Jaya against Azam Khan in order to “stop people like Azam Khan from reaching the Assembly”. He also added that Jaya will contest from whichever constituency Khan contests.Jaya Prada commented, “It’s people’s demand that I contest the election from Rampur against Azam Khan... I will go with the (party’s) decision.”

OneIndia News