Congress candidate from Allahabad issued show cause notice

Former Uttar Pradesh minister and Congress candidate from Allahabad Nand Gopal Gupta 'Nandi' has been issued a show cause notice for allegedly doling out monetary benefits in a bid to lure voters in his favor ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in Allahabad.

The notice was issued by the district administration to Nandi, on Thursday, wherein he has been asked to file his reply within two days, official sources said, on Friday.

They said, the notice was issued following a complaint lodged by a local Samajwadi Party leader that the businessman- turned-politician was sending money orders in favour of residents of localities falling under Allahabad Lok Sabha seat where voting is scheduled on May 7.

Although Nandi, whose wife Abhilasha Gupta is the city Mayor, defended his action saying he was "only offering help to families which have faced financial strain on account of weddings in the recent past", SP leaders alleged that many recipients of the money orders were those in whose family there had not been any marriage function in the last few months.

Congress had declared Nandi as its candidate from Allahabad less than a month after his expulsion from BSP.

He had made a stunning electoral debut in the 2007 Assembly polls at a young age of 32 when he bagged the Allahabad South seat defeating heavyweights like BJP's Keshri Nath Tripathi and Rita Bahuguna Joshi of Congress.

Impressed with his feat, BSP supremo Mayawati had rewarded him with a cabinet berth in her government.

Nandi, however, lost his seat to Haji Parvez Ahmad of SP in 2012 assembly polls.

He was hopeful of a party ticket for the Lok Sabha polls and later, following Mayawati's decision to field former Zila Panchayat president Keshri Devi Patel, got in touch with BJP leading to his expulsion from BSP for "anti-party activities".

BJP, however, chose to field former SP MP from Banda - Shyama Charan Gupta - after which Congress announced Nandi as its candidate, apparently to neutralise the saffron party's attempts to wean away a sizeable Bania/Vaishya vote.