Kanpur: Comedian Annu Awasthi on Sunday announced his decision to contest the next election from the Sisamau Assembly seat, kicking off his campaign with a nearly 16-km Mitra Milan and Dev Yatra featuring more than 50 vehicles.
The yatra began around 3 pm from Car Bazaar in Lajpat Nagar. BJP’s Rakesh Sonkar won the seat in 1991, 1993 and 1996, while Congress wrested it from BJP in 2002 and retained it in 2007. After delimitation in 2012, SP’s Irfan Solanki won the seat and retained it in 2017 and 2022.
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“We will win there by making people laugh,” Awasthi said, adding that he was making a new beginning with Dev Darshan and had a long association with Sisamau. Awasthi said he was born in the constituency and had a long association with Vankhandeshwar temple. MP Ramesh Awasthi said he joined the Dev Darshan Yatra after being invited by Awasthi.
Awasthi’s daughter Vanshika applied tilak to him before BJP workers carried him on their shoulders to an open jeep amid slogans supporting him and MP Ramesh Awasthi. Ramesh Awasthi and actress Deepti Joshi accompanied him in the jeep. The convoy passed through Gumti, Darshanpurwa and Dev Nagar before reaching Deputy Padav, where Awasthi offered prayers at Chandrika Devi temple. It then moved to Vankhandeshwar temple in Sisamau Bazaar before proceeding to Chunniganj. Participants carried saffron and Tricolour flags, while supporters welcomed Awasthi along the route. He also pledged to continue working for Sisamau residents. Sisamau is represented by Samajwadi Party MLA Naseem Solanki, who may be fielded again in the next election. The constituency has a Muslim voter majority and has remained with Irfan Solanki’s family in recent years. Irfan Solanki was disqualified after being sentenced in the Jajmau arson case. In the subsequent bypoll, his wife Naseem Solanki defeated BJP’s Suresh Awasthi. Download the TOI App.