Giant Killers

Rekha Verma: BJP  candidate, pushed incumbent MP Jitin Prasada of the Congress to fourth position, behind the SP and the BSP, in Dhaurahra. Born in Kanpur, Rekha married Arun Kumar Verma in 1996. Her husband joined the BJP last year and was in consideration for a Lok Sabha ticket until he died about four months ago after suffering a heart attack.

“He was well liked here and after he passed away, the local people and party leaders felt that I should be given the ticket,” says Rekha Verma, 39. She says she will focus on issues such as problems of cane farmers and education of girls.

Priyanka Singh Rawat: Defeated the Congress’s P L Punia by over 2 lakh votes in Barabanki. Once working with a news channel, she joined the BJP last June; her family is said to be politically active. Rawat, 28, earned an MA in political science in 2007 and a diploma in journalism (electronic media) in 2008.

She campaigned extensively on social media, always keeping Narendra Modi’s image ahead of hers. Her husband Raghunath Rawat is with the Indian Revenue Services.

Mukesh Rajput: BJP candidate, who pushed the Congress’s Salman Khurshid to fourth place in Farrukhabad, was selected by Kalyan Singh. Rajput was the state vice-president in Kalyan’s Jan Kranti Party. He has also been a zilla panchayat president.