E-Paper
SP fields Dharmendra, not Akhilesh, in Azamgarh
Political circles in UP were agog with speculation that SP national general secretary Shivpal Yadav would contest it, but the SP sent him to Badaun (the seat of the then sitting MP Dharmendra Yadav which the BJP’s Sanghmitra Maurya won in 2019). After Badaun’s ticket to Shivpal, it was speculated that Akhilesh would contest Azamgarh and Kannauj.
Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party (SP) released its fifth list of five candidates on Saturday, fielding former Badaun MP Dharmendra Yadav on the Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat. It had long been speculated that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav would contest the Azamgarh seat.
Now, there is suspense, both within the SP and outside, if the SP chief would contest the Kannauj seat or won’t contest the LS polls at all.
The BJP had won the Azamgarh seat in the bypolls in 2022 when its candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’ defeated Dharmendra Yadav.
Originally, the political circles in UP were agog with speculation that SP national general secretary Shivpal Yadav would contest it, but the SP sent him to Badaun (the seat of the then sitting MP Dharmendra Yadav which the BJP’s Sanghmitra Maurya won in 2019). After Badaun’s ticket to Shivpal, it was speculated that Akhilesh would contest Azamgarh and Kannauj. The BJP has already declared sitting MP Dinesh Lal Yadav as its candidate for Azamgarh.
The SP announced Mahendra Nagar as its candidate for the Gautam Buddha Nagar. Nagar came to the SP fold in 2022, leaving the Congress.
The SP gave Sultanpur ticket to Bhim Nishad, Jalaun ticket to Narayan Das Ahirwar and Etawah ticket to Jitendra Dohre.
The party also changed a candidate on Saturday, allotting the Misrikh ticket to Manoj Kumar Rajvanshi. Earlier, Rampal Rajvanshi was fielded from Misrikh .
With this list, the SP has declared 40 candidates in five lists. It has given one ticket to TMC from its share of 63 seats while the Congress (the alliance partner) will contest 17.
