Ayodhya, Dec 8 (IANS): The importance of an election is apparently more than a wedding. A Samajwadi corporator in Ayodhya has proved it.

With the announcement of municipal polls in Uttar Pradesh, the corporator, Mahendra Shukla, preponed his wedding after his ward was declared reserved for women. He did this so that his wife could contest from his seat -- Swargadwar ward of Ayodhya Municipal Corporation.

His ward has now been incorporated into the Laxmanghat ward following the recent delimitation exercise.

The list of reserved wards was released on December 1 and, a day after, Shukla tied the knot.

"I was already engaged... We were planning to get married in January next year. When the Laxmanghat seat was declared as reserved for women, we decided to go ahead with the marriage," he said.

"I have worked hard for the people of my area for the last five years and wish to move ahead in politics. For this, I thought it would be better if a woman candidate from my family contested in the municipal polls, and who better than my wife herself?" he added.

Municipal elections in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to be held later this month.