Lucknow, April 13: Age: 32; education: Intermediate; marital status: married; occupation: homemaker; job experience: nil. To most people, Prabha Singh Lodh’s CV would hardly merit a second look.

Yet India’s most powerful woman could be doing just that, if only out of curiosity. After all, Sonia Gandhi will be fighting her for the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat.

The CV was impressive enough for expelled BJP leader Uma Bharti, for she hand-picked the political novice to take on Sonia, telling voters that the “honest” housewife would be the ideal MP.

Lodh, who belongs to the same caste as Uma, was the lone candidate to file her papers as nominations opened today. Since the sadhvi doesn’t have a party yet, she got Lodh the membership of the regional Apna Dal, a fringe party supported by the backward Lodhs and Kurmi farmers in pockets like Jaunpur (which neighbours Rae Bareli) and Jhansi. In reality, she’ll be providing Uma with a shoulder to fire at Sonia from.

In a bypoll battle that could be billed as the Famous versus the Anonymous, parties are using greenhorns as cannon fodder against the chairperson of India’s ruling alliance.

Although Lodh is from Rae Bareli, few in the town seem to know anything about her.

It’s the same with another first-timer, 28-year-old Raj Kumar Chaudhury, who is the Samajwadi Party’s choice for the May 8 bypoll. “He’s being made a sacrificial lamb. The party can’t back out of its commitment to field a candidate against Sonia,” a state minister said.

The BJP is believed to have taken the cue from Uma and started looking for a woman leader from Rae Bareli.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayavati has decided against fielding a candidate. Sources say with an assets case pending against her, Mayavati wants to avoid annoying the Congress president.

Sonia is expected to file her papers on April 17.