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Three former chief ministers in fray in UP

Three former chief ministers are in the fray in Uttar Pradesh and all of them are locked in multi-cornered contests. Congress has fielded veteran leader Narain Dutt Tiwari from Nainital, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is contesting from two constituencies -- Kannauj and Sambhal -- and the Bahujan Samaj Partry leader Mayawati is in the fray from the Akbarpur (reserved) seat.

Tiwari is locked in a four-cornered contest in Nainital, his home constituency. He is facing noted film director Muzaffar Ali of the Samajwadi Party, former Miss India Naina Balsavar of the BSP and Balraj Pasi of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Tiwari was defeated by Balraj Pasi in 1991 general elections, but in the polls held in 1996 he wrested the seat from the BJP. However, in the last Lok Sabha elections in 1998 he lost it once again to the BJP.

Tiwari, who has declared that this would be his last election, is campaigning door to door with development of the region his main election plank.

The Samajwadi Party chief is contesting from Kannauj for the first time, while in Sambhal it is his second attempt.

In the Kannauj constituency, which went to polls on September 18, Yadav is pitted against Arvind Pratap Singh of the Loktantrik Congress, an ally of the ruling BJP in the state, Sugharpal Singh of the BSP and Digvijay Narain Singh of the Congress. A total of 13 candidates are in the fray for this seat.

In Sambhal too, Yadav is facing 13 rivals, including Bhupendra Singh of the BJP, Buddhsen Khargi of the BSP and Sripal Yadav of the Congress. However, his main rival is the BJP candidate.

In the last election Yadav had won from Sambhal, defeating the BJP's D P Yadav by 1,66,682 votes.

BSP vice-president Mayawati, another former chief minister, is trying her luck once again from Akbarpur from where she was elected to the Lok Sabha last time also. Former Arunachal Pradesh governor and Congress leader Mata Parasad Bechan Ram of the BJP and Rampyare Suman of the SP are Mayawati's main rivals.

In the 1998 elections in Akbarpur, Mayawati had defeated his nearest rival N P Kannaujia of the SP by a margin of 2,5179 votes. BJP candidate Triveni Prasad had secured the third place.

UNI

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