Congress allow SP to change poll arithmetic in Noida

Noida: The contest in Noida is being seen as a battle of prestige for BJP which has fielded Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s son Pankaj Singh who is making his electoral debut in this crucial Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. Pankaj (38), an MBA from Amity University, has been active in politics since 2002 and had been in ticket contention since 2007 Assembly election when he was almost set to make his debut from Chandauli, the home town of Rajnath.

In the 2012 Assembly election, Sharma had won the seat polling 77,319 votes and defeated the BSP candidate by a margin of 27,676 votes. SP’s Sunil Choudhary got 42,031 while Congress’ V S Chauhan had polled 25,482 votes and came fourth.

The SP has again fielded Sunil Choudhary, who had lost in 2012, and is hoping to wrest the seat by citing the development works in the area, including flyovers and Metro. Several Union ministers have come to campaign for Pankaj, who is also going door-to-door with his wife to reach out to voters.