Hyderabad: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati has created a stir in Uttar Pradesh politics by fielding Srikala Reddy, wife of former MP Dhananjay Singh who was sentenced to jail in a kidnapping and extortion case, from Jaunpur Lok Sabha seat.
Jaunpur that will go for polls on May 25, is set to witness a triangular contest between Srikala, BJP candidate Kripashankar Singh and Samajwadi Party's Babu Singh Kushwaha. Kripashankar had been a minister in the Maharashtra government while Kushwaha was a minister in Uttar Pradesh government.
Earlier, Dhananjay Singh himself wanted to contest elections from this seat. But, being jailed, he has been banned from contesting elections.
Srikala, district panchayat president, hails from a family of businessmen and also has a connection with politics. Her father, Jitender Reddy is owner of Nippo Battery and had served as an MLA in Telangana while her mother Lalita Reddy was a sarpanch of her native village.
She married Dhananjay in 2017. First the marriage took place in Paris and then in Chennai. The marriages were held with great pomp and spendour. Among the guests included south superstar Allu Arjun and a host of personalities from the business world and film industry.
Srikala is Dhananjay's third wife. Dhananjay's first wife committed suicide nine months after marriage. After which, he married Dr Jagriti Singh, who was sent to jail in 2013 on charges of murdering a maid. Later Jagriti divorced Dhananjay. After which, Dhananjay married Srikala in 2017.
Srikala owns a huge property and has more assets than her husband. According to her affidavit, Srikala has movable assets worth more than Rs 6.71 crore, immovable assets worth Rs 780 crore and jewellery worth Rs 1.74 crore. On the other hand, Dhananjay has immovable assets worth Rs 5.31 crore and movable assets worth Rs 3.56 crore.
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