The wife of an Uttar Pradesh minister has sprung a surprise here by filing nomination papers against her husband as an independent candidate.
Abhilasha Gupta (38), wife of Minister for Homeopathic Medicine Nand Gopal Nandi, filed her nomination papers from the Allahabad (South) seat last evening, shortly before filing of nominations for the third phase of polls came to a close.
Significantly, Nandi was accompanied by his wife when he filed his nomination papers from the same seat on January 25.
Sources close to the minister claimed that Nandi's wife had filed her papers in the 2007 polls also, but withdrew later.
Nandi, who was a city-based industrialist before venturing into politics, had pulled off a sensational victory in the 2007 assembly polls, defeating heavyweights like former Assembly Speaker and the then state BJP president Keshri Nath Tripathi and UP Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
He was straightaway inducted into the cabinet. He was also severely injured in a bomb attack outside his residence here on July 12, 2010.
Seeking re-election from the seat where voting will be held on February 15, Nandi is likely to face a tough challenge from Keshri Nath Tripathi, who has won the seat for BJP a record five times, and city Mayor Chaudhary Jitendra Nath Singh, who has been fielded by the Congress.