After Akhilesh’s nod, Ujjawal Raman set to contest from Allahabad on Congress ticket

LUCKNOW/Prayagraj: After Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s nod, Ujjawal Raman Singh (51) of SP is poised to contest from Allahabad seat of Prayagraj on Congress symbol, as both the parties are engaging in giving a final shape to their seat-sharing arrangement.

The Allahabad seat is one of the 17 seats allocated to the Congress quota for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Congress and the Samajwadi Party are contesting the elections in alliance as partners of the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh.

A senior Congress leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Ujjawal Raman Singh is likely to contest the 2024 polls from Allahabad on a Congress ticket. However, Singh himself refrained from commenting on the matter.

Ujjwal Raman Singh has served two terms as an MLA from the Karachhana legislative assembly seat of Allahabad, which falls within the Allahabad Lok Sabha constituency. He served as an MLA from 2004 to 2007 and was re-elected in 2017 and 2022. Coming from the Bhumihar community, Singh may benefit from the political legacy of his father, former MP and former UP minister Revti Raman Singh, who defeated veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi in 2004.

Ujjawal Raman won the 2017 assembly election as a Samajwadi Party candidate, defeating Piyush Ranjan Nishad of BJP by a margin of 15,024 votes. He previously served as the environment minister in Mulayam Singh Yadav’s government.

Kunwar Revati Raman Singh, who represented the Allahabad seat in the Lok Sabha in 2004 and 2009, lost to the BJP’s Shyama Charan Gupta in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Rewati Raman Singh, popularly known as ‘Mani Ji,’ holds the record for being an eight-time MLA from the Karachhana assembly seat of Prayagraj (1974-2004) and served as the MP of Prayagraj from 2004-14. He also held positions as a cabinet minister (power) in the UP government from 1979-1980, and later served as a cabinet minister handling irrigation, small scale industries, and environment in the UP government from 1989-1990.

Meanwhile, there are indications that the Congress may also advocate for fielding one of its leaders on a Samajwadi Party ticket. “We are making efforts to nominate Dhirendra Pratap Singh, a general secretary in the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC), from Shravasti. If the Samajwadi Party agrees, he may contest on an SP ticket,” said a party leader.

When asked whether the two parties (Congress and SP) may swap Allahabad and Shravasti Lok Sabha seats, a senior leader said swapping the seats may cause more complications. “At present there is a possibility of swapping of candidates and the deal to field Ujjawal Raman Singh on a Congress ticket is almost done,” said the leader.

The Allahabad Lok Sabha seat is currently held by former Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who switched to the BJP before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and won on a BJP ticket.

It’s noteworthy that All India Congress Committee general secretary Avinash Pandey recently visited Rewati Raman Singh at the SG PGI in Lucknow, where Singh was undergoing treatment.