Varanasi: Claiming that party chief Akhilesh Yadav has given his consent, Ribu Shrivastava today filed her nomination papers as SP candidate from Varanasi Cantonment Assembly seat, alloted to Congress following an alliance between the two parties.
Her name was declared as a Samajwadi Party candidate from the constituency in the list which was announced earlier by former SP state president Shivpal Yadav, before the Congress-SP alliance.
Following the alliance, the seat was allotted to Congress and the name of party leader Anil Shrivastava figured in the joint list released by the Congress-SP alliance.
Shrivastava had already filed his nomination papers on Tuesday.
When asked that a Congress candidate had already filed his nomination papers, Ribu, after filing her papers at the District Collectorate here said, "UP CM Akhilesh Yadav had given me his consent to contest from the seat on SP's symbol 'bicycle' and it was the matter for the senior leadership to decide who would contest from here."
She claimed that she had been campaigning in the constituency as a SP nominee for the past 12 months, and "my name was announced even before the two parties formed an alliance".
Ribu said the Congress candidate had already lost the seat thrice and "she was the most suitable candidate from the seat, which is won by BJP for the last 30 years.
She also said "I was in Lucknow for last two days and came straight to file my nomination papers here, after getting the consent from the UP CM."
Now, both the Congress and the SP candidates will contest from the seat on their party symbols.
