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Lok Sabha elections 2019: Mulayam family’s seats to witness interesting contest
At the same time, the contest for the remaining members of the Yadav clan is going to be an interesting one.
For Samajwadi Party patron Mulayam Singh, the Mainpuri seat in Uttar Pradesh has always been a stronghold in terms of caste politics. And now with the BSP supporting it, the Mainpuri seat for Mulayam Singh Yadav is being seen as a strong move by the party.
At the same time, the contest for the remaining members of the Yadav clan is going to be an interesting one.
In the previous election, during the Modi wave, Mulayam Singh Yadav had won the Mainpuri seat with a difference of about three and a half lakh votes. In the past, Mulayam has won the Lok Sabha elections of 1996, 2004 and 2009 from the seat. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Mulayam Singh Yadav had contested from both Azamgarh and Mainpuri seats and had emerged victorious in both seats. Although his victory margin in Azamgarh was less than that in Mainpuri. In Azamgarh, he was challenged by both the BJP and the BSP. Mulayam’s younger brother Shivpal has also offered Mulayam a ticket from his party.
Strong contest in Badayun
In Badayun, the Congress has fielded a candidate on the SP seat. With the BJP adopting an aggressive strategy to snatch the five SP seats, its victory seems relatively easy. The presence of the Congress candidate in the constituency is likely to mean losses for the SP.
In Firozabad, an uncle-nephew battle
In Firozabad, the Samajwadi Party is fielding Akshay Yadav, a joint candidate of the SP-BSP-RLD combine. At the same time, his uncle Shivpal Lohia will also contest the election from the same seat. His party the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (PSPL) has made headways on the SP seat. In spite of this, Akshay’s position appears to be strong due to the alliance.
The contest in Firozabad will become even more interesting if the Congress decides to field its state president Raj Babbar from this constituency. Raj Babbar has won the Lok Sabha elections from here earlier. A clearer picture of the contest will emerge only after the BJP decides who to field from this seat.
Akhilesh may contest from Azamgarh
So far, Samajwadi Party has released the names of only nine candidates. Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s name is not in the list. It is believed that he wants to contest from Azamgarh, the seat from where Mulayam had contest in the last elections and won. The alliance with BSP and RLD seems to have cleared the field for Akhilesh in Azamgarh, which has a predominantly Yadav, Muslim and Dalit vote. Akhilesh Yadav has usually contested and won from the Kannauj seat. Akhilesh, who is neither an MP or an MLA, is hoping to keep alive his father’s legacy by contesting and winning the elections from Azamgarh.
Candidates for 4 reserved seats
The party has also announced the names of its candidates for four reserved seats. Among them are Kamlesh Kothariya from Etawah reserved seat, Bhai Lal Kaul from Robertsgang and Shabbir Balmiki from Bahraich. The party has fielded Usha Verma from the Hardoi seat.
Mayawati’s BSP, Akhilesh yadav’s SP and Ajit Singh’s National Lok Dal (NLD) have come together in a grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the upcoming elections. Under this, the BSP will contest on 38 of UP’s 80 seats, while the SP will contest 37 seats and the RLD will contest three seats in the election.
