Shahjahanpur (Uttar Pradesh): Politics often has the power to rip apart families and another such example has emerged as Uttar Pradesh ended its first phase of polls Thursday. Roshan Lal Verma, the Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Tilhar, is facing his own daughter-in-law Sarita Yadav on the same seat in Shahjahanpur. While Varma is contesting on a Samajwadi ticket, Sarita Yadav is contesting as a Rashtriya Samaj Party candidate.
Varma had quit the BJP with Swami Prasad Maurya last month and had joined the SP.
Sarita has accused her father-in-law of illegally grabbing people’s land. Sarita told reporters that she is contesting against Varma because she wants to expose him. She alleged that Varma has illegally encroached upon the land of many people in the Tilhar locality. She said he has filed fake cases against a large number of Yadavs and people from the Muslim community.
Sarita claimed that even the land in front of Nigohi police station, registered in the name of her husband Vinod Kumar, has been occupied by her father-in-law. It happened after her husband died in 2019. Now she, along with her eight-year-old daughter, is contacting voters in the area to seek their support and votes.
Varma, meanwhile, has denied Sarita being his daughter-in-law. However, in the posters printed for campagning Sarita has claimed herself to be Varma’s daughter-in-law.
“She (Sarita Yadav) is making false claims. She has no proof of it. She is hatching a conspiracy to malign our image. She is in the fray but this will not make any difference to my image,” asserted Varma.
Shahjahanpur goes to the polls in the second phase of the Assembly elections February 14.
As of now however, the voters are waiting eagerly for the results as to see who ultimately has the last laugh – father-in-law or daughter-in-law.