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This Akhilesh Yadav contesting from Mubarakpur doesn’t head Samajwadi Party
A report in Hindi news website Prabhat Khabar said the other Yadav had contested from the Mubarakpur Assembly seat twice before – 2012 and 2017 – only to lose on both occasions.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) on Monday released a new list of 24 candidates for the upcoming assembly election in Uttar Pradesh.
Among the names that drew attention in the list were that of one Akhilesh Yadav, who the Samajwadi Party has fielded from Mubarakpur in Azamgarh, and Sabhawati Shukla, named the party’s candidate against chief minister Yogi Aditynath from Gorakhpur (Urban) seat.
Also Read| UP Assembly polls: New SP list names Sabhawati Shukla against CM Adityanath
While there was some initial confusion regarding the Mubarakpur candidate with some even wondering if the party president was being fielded from two seats (the former chief minister is contesting from Karhal constituency in Mainpuri), it was later known the other Yadav is only a namesake of the party head.
Who is the other Akhilesh Yadav?
According to media reports, the former chief minister’s namesake is an ex-district president of the Samajwadi Party from Azamgarh.
A report in Hindi news website Prabhat Khabar said the other Yadav had contested from the Mubarakpur Assembly seat twice before – 2012 and 2017 – only to lose on both occasions. Time shall reveal if he could win over the seat’s voters and turn his luck.
While in 2017, Yadav had lost by 688 votes, in 2012, the losing margin was 8,566 votes, the report said.
Sabhawati Shukla, SP’s face in Yogi turf
According to available reports, Sabhawati is the widow of Upendra Shukla, a former leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Upendra, who was the vice president of the state’s BJP unit, had unsuccessfully contested the by-election from Gorakhpur in 2018 after chief minister Adityanath vacated the seat.
A prominent leader, Upendra was seen as the saffron party’s Brahmin face in the Purvanchal region, according to news agency PTI. Sabhawati joined the SP on January 20 in Lucknow and promised the party chief to win the seat with record votes. “I want to thank the national president of the Samajwadi Party for giving respect to a woman like me who is weak and helpless and I promise him that I will register victory with record votes,” Sabhawati was quoted as saying in the report.
