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SP fields city doctor against Vajpayee

LUCKNOW, APRIL 20 . A city-based gynaecologist, fielded by the Samajwadi Party to challenge Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in his Lucknow constituency, is hopeful of putting up a tough fight in the Lok Sabha polls.

Dr Madhu Gupta, who has in the past contested unsuccessfully in the Lucknow Mayoral elections, is hopeful of putting up a tough fight against the Prime Minister who is making a bid to enter the LS for the fifth time in a row from Lucknow.

In all, there are 32 candidates in the fray from Lucknow, including Independent candidate and jurist, Ram Jethmalani.

Talking to UNI here, Dr Gupta observed that though Mr Vajpayee was harping on `India Shining', he had failed to make `Lucknow Shining'.

``You talk about roads, civic amenities, women issues and youth, and all you have got from him are hollow promises,'' she said. Mr Vajpayee seldom visits Lucknow and when he does, it is mostly related to BJP affairs, claimed Dr Gupta. ``The common man can only see Mr Vajpayee waving from behind his tinted car glasses before he zips past.''

``I decided to take on the BJP's icon so as to make the people aware of the failures of the NDA Government at the Centre,'' she told a news conference here yesterday.

Scoffing at the Congress' support to the Independent candidate, Ram Jethmalani, she said the manner in which the party first fielded Akhilesh Das and then forced him to withdraw in favour of Mr Jethmalani, showed their lack of confidence in their candidate.

``The Congress alleges that the SP did not support its idea of backing a common candidate against Mr Vajpayee, but when Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav asked them to support my candidature, they (Congress) decided in favour of Mr Jethmalani,'' she said. On allegations that she was fielded by the SP as a dummy candidate to ensure a smooth sailing for Mr Vajpayee by eating into the opposition votes, Dr Gupta rubbished the reports saying such canards were being spread by vested interests to confuse the electorate.

UNI

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