The Congress party withheld a Lok Sabha ticket for Supriya Shrinate in the Maharajganj constituency of Uttar Pradesh, opting instead for Virendra Chaudhary. Shrinate, who had previously contended for this seat in the 2019 elections, found herself embroiled in a heated controversy surrounding a contentious social media post about BJP’s Mandi candidate, Kangana Ranaut, which was later removed.
Shrinate responded to the backlash stating that multiple individuals have access to her social media accounts, suggesting that someone else had made the ‘extremely inappropriate’ post. Following the incident, the Election Commission intervened, issuing a show-cause notice to Shrinate, admonishing her for comments that were deemed ‘undignified and in bad taste’ and seemingly in violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The Congress party, amidst this commotion, released its eighth list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, announcing a total of 208 candidates thus far, with prominent matchups including Rao Yadvendra Singh against Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Pratap Bhanu Sharma against former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
As the row escalated, Shrinate was replaced by Congress from the Maharajganj seat she had previously fought for. She later expressed to the press her desire to concentrate on her role as the head of social media within the party and claimed to have already requested not to be nominated. She also took prompt action to delete the controversial post from her Instagram account as soon as she was made aware of it. The Congress continues to prep for the Lok Sabha polls, aligning its candidates in key states and demonstrating a commitment to rigorous campaigning and adherence to election guidelines.