Lucknow poll will be fought on Vajpayee's legacy

Rita Bahuguna Joshi, daughter of former UP chief minister and Congress stalwart Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, is known to be a fighter and has a good image among minorities and women in Lucknow.

She refuses to see Rajnath Singh as a challenge and is confident of trouncing him.

”Rajnathji is an outsider. Remove the ‘national BJP president' tag from his name and he is no one,” she says. “All the major work done in Lucknow is on central government funds, be it the city buses, the sewer system or roads,” Joshi told IANS.

”Lucknow is a city of learned people. They prefer development over communal politics,” she added.

But Rajnath Singh, who won from Ghaziabad in 2009, told IANS that he felt at home in Lucknow.