Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will contest the Lok Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj parliamentary seat.
Lucknow: In the latest development in the INDIA bloc ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha election, Samajwadi Party has announced that its supremo Akhilesh Yadav will contest the general elections from Kannauj parliamentary constituency. As per SP’s official X account, the former UP chief minister will file his nomination at around 12 pm on Thursday.
Earlie, the SP announced Tej Pratap Yadav as its candidate for the Kannauj seat but later the party has decided to field Akhilesh Yadav as the finale candidate.
On being asked whether he will contest from the seat or Tej Pratap, Yadav said, “See, when there are nominations, you will get to know. Maybe you will get to know before nominations also.”
Tej Pratap, a former MP from Mainpuri and nephew of Akhilesh Yadav is also the son-in-law of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. He is married to Lalu’s daughter Raj Laxmi Yadav.
Tej Pratap is the grandson of late SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav’s brother Ranveer Singh. He was Mainpuri MP from 2014 to 2019.
Akhilesh Yadav served as Lok Sabha MP from 2000-2012. He resigned from the Kannauj parliamentary seat in 2012 after he became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. In 2017, his party was unable to form government in UP and he submitted his resignation to the Governor. He was elected Lok Sabha MP in 2019, and went on to be elected to the UP Assembly in 2022.
Following the UP Assembly polls, Yadav resigned as Lok Sabha MP and retained his state assembly seat.
In the major electoral event of 2019, the BJP astoundingly bagged 62 seats from the total of 80 in Uttar Pradesh, not to mention its ally Apna Dal (S) secured 2 seats to their name. While Mayawati’s BSP secured a modest victory with 10 seats, on the other hand, only five seats went to Akhilesh Yadav’s SP. Strikingly, Congress could only manage to win a single seat in this battle of ballots.
(With agency inputs).
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