Lucknow: A former minister in Mayawati govt, Amarmani Tripathi, who was convicted of the murder of poet Madhumita Shukla, has announced his intention to contest the 2027 Assembly elections from Pharenda seat in Maharajganj.Mayawati was heading BSP-BJP coalition govt when Madhumita Shukla was murdered in May 2003. Amarmani and his wife, Madhumani, who were convicted in the case, were released from jail in 2023.During a public interaction programme in Maharajganj on Sunday, Tripathi said that he would contest from Pharenda, while his son Amanmani, also a former MLA, would enter the fray from Nautanwa. “If there is anyone who can take him on, let me know,” Tripathi said.“The youth have changed govts in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. In India, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan had to resign under pressure from the youth,” he said, in a covert swipe at the BJP.This was his first public appearance after 19 years.Tripathi’s announcement set political circles abuzz with speculation over which party could provide the platform for his potential comeback.Significantly, under Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, a person convicted of an offence and sentenced to imprisonment of two years or more is disqualified from contesting elections from the date of conviction and for six years after release.Since Tripathi was released in Aug 2023, the six-year post-release period would ordinarily run until Aug 2029, creating a potentially decisive legal hurdle for a 2027 assembly contest.Experts said Tripathi appeared to be testing the political waters, especially for his son Amanmani, who successfully contested the 2017 Assembly elections from Nautanwa as an independent candidate.Tripathi has a chequered political history. Formerly with BSP, he represented Lakshmipur Assembly seat, which was later redrawn and became part of Nautanwa constituency following delimitation. He also served as a minister in BSP govt between 2002 and 2003.Tripathi was expelled from BSP following his conviction in the murder case. In 2007, he contested Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on a Samajwadi Party ticket while in jail and won.However, on Oct 24, 2007, a Dehradun special court sentenced him to life imprisonment in the Madhumita murder case. Consequently, he lost Lakshmipur seat, which ceased to exist after delimitation in 2008.Tripathi was initially lodged in Roshanabad Jail in Haridwar, where his wife Madhumani was also imprisoned. In 2012, both were transferred to Gorakhpur jail.A year later, Amarmani was admitted to Gorakhpur’s Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College on medical grounds, where he remained for nearly a decade.Though he remained in hospital as a VIP prisoner, Tripathi stayed politically active in his former constituency of Nautanwa, around 80 km away.He sought to bolster the political career of his son, who contested the 2012 elections on an SP ticket from Nautanwa, but lost to Congress candidate Kaushal Kishore Singh by around 8,000 votes.The defeat came despite SP’s strong performance in 2012, when the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led party secured a majority and Akhilesh Yadav became chief minister.Tripathi subsequently changed strategy. In 2017, Amanmani contested as an independent and defeated Singh by a margin of more than 32,000 votes.BJP candidate Sameer Tripathi was pushed to third place. Notably, this was the same year when BJP swept the election and formed the govt under Yogi Adityanath.In 2022, BSP president Mayawati fielded Amanmani from Nautanwa. However, he lost to BJP ally Nishad Party’s Rishi Tripathi by a margin of over 45,000 votes.
