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SP releases 3rd list of candidates, former minister in Yogi cabinet Dara Singh gets Ghosi ticket
On January 16, Dara Singh Chauhan joined the Samajwadi Party in the presence of party chief Akhilesh Yadav. During the joining Chauhan said that the BJP gained votes from backward communities before 2017 assembly elections, but didn't give them anything in return.
Samajwadi Party (SP) on Thursday released its third list of 56 candidates for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. One of the noted names in the list is that of Dara Singh Chauhan, who has been fielded from Ghosi constituency. Chauhan recently quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and chief minister Yogi Adityanath's cabinet.
With the latest list, the Akhilesh Yadav-led camp has so far declared the names of 254 candidates for the 403 seats of the Uttar Pradesh assembly.
Also Read | Convicted ex-minister’s wife is SP’s choice for Amethi, Pawan Pandey from Ayodhya
Between January 14 and 16, as many as eight ministers of the current BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government and party legislators quit the saffron camp and switched over to the SP. Chauhan was the third minister to make the move, following Swami Prasad Maurya and Dharam Singh Saini.
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During officially joining the SP in presence of Akhilesh on January 16, Chauhan said the BJP gathered votes from people of the backward communities before 2017 elections, but did not give them anything in return. “Hence, all those belonging to backward communities are trooping to the SP,” he added.
The SP has already fielded Saini from Nakud constituency, but is yet to field Maurya from a seat for the forthcoming assembly polls.
Also Read | Former ministers Swami Prasad Maurya, Saini, six MLAs join Samajwadi Party
Not just BJP, some Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) turncoats such as Ram Achal Rajbhar and Lalji Verma have also been fielded from Akbarpur and Katehari constituency, respectively.
Senior SP leader Beni Prasad Verma's son Rakesh Verma got the ticket from Kursi constituency, while former minister in the Akhilesh government, Arvind Singh Gope and Fareed Mehfooz Kidwai have been fielded from Dariyabad and Ram Nagar seats, respectively.
The SP is yet to announce a candidate's name from Gorakhpur (Urban) and Sirathu constituencies from where Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, and state's deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya have been fielded by the BJP.
Also Read | UP election: BJP releases 1st list of 107 candidates. Details here
Uttar Pradesh will go into polls in seven phases between February 10 and March 7, and the counting of votes will take place on March 10.
