"I am fighting this election to get justice and I will win it," said the mother of Unnao rape victim after the Congress party on Thursday announced her name to contest from Unnao in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the General Secretary of the Congress party, earlier today released the first list of 125 candidates for the polls.
"Forty per cent are women and 40 per cent are youth. With this, we aim to give rise to new hope and a new political scenario here. Of the women finalised in the list, a few are journalists, one is an actress, some fight for their rights, some are social workers among others," Priyanka had said.
The Unnao rape victim's mother is one of the prominent names in the list released by the party, which is pulling out all the stops to wrestle power from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state and earlier released "Ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon" (I am a girl and I can fight) campaign in Uttar Pradesh.
Former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, who represented the same seat from which the girl's mother is now contesting the polls, was convicted and jailed for life for the rape.
"We do not have anybody in the family. My brother-in-law is in jail. I am fighting this election for getting justice and for my brother-in-law, and I will win the election. I am fighting this election to get justice for the victims of injustice and rape," said the mother.
The infamous Unnao rape case came into the limelight in 2017 when the victim tried to kill herself outside the residence of Yogi Adityanath after her father was beaten up allegedly by Sengar's brother and later succumbed to the injuries.
"If I win the election, I will try to get justice for all the victims. I will stay with them, I will help them. I will keep fighting against Kuldeep Singh Senger till am alive. I want justice," the victim's mother added.
The Congress party, through its "Ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon" campaign has been trying to strengthen its base with the women voters in the country's most populous state, the battle for which and its outcome, are often seen as the litmus test of the political parties for the general elections.
"We had met Priyanka Gandhi in New Delhi nearly 15 days ago. She asked me if I would fight an election, to which I agreed. Whenever I have met her, she has asked me to fight my battle saying that I will get justice and that I should have faith and thus fight.. She is a woman, she understands my pain," she added.
The girl, who was a minor when she was raped, sat by her mother's side, said that she is thankful to Priyanka Gandhi for giving this platform to her family.
"She is fighting this election to make sure that none of the women has to go through what I had to go through," the girl said.
Uttar Pradesh assembly elections will be held in seven phases- February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27 and March 3 and 7.
The counting is scheduled to take place on March 10.
( With inputs from ANI )
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