Akhilesh Yadav can contest elections from two seats
– Photo: Amar Ujala
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SP President Akhilesh Yadav may contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from two seats. Preparations are going on for him in both Kannauj and Azamgarh. Akhilesh Yadav has already been MP from both these Lok Sabha constituencies.
SP has made former MP Dharmendra Yadav in-charge of Kannauj and Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituencies. Both these seats are considered strongholds of SP due to the sizeable number of Muslim and Yadav voters. Akhilesh Yadav had won the Lok Sabha elections of 2000, 2004 and 2009 consecutively from Kannauj. After that in 2014, his wife Dimple Yadav won from here. This winning streak stopped in the year 2019, when Dimple Yadav lost to BJP candidate Subrata Pathak.
Similarly, Mulayam Singh Yadav won the 2014 elections from Azamgarh and in 2019, Akhilesh Yadav was elected MP from there. But, when the by-election was held on this Lok Sabha seat after Akhilesh Yadav was elected assembly member, SP candidate Dharmendra Yadav lost from here. In an interesting contest, BJP candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav Nirahua won from Azamgarh.
SP does not want to leave any stone unturned to regain both these seats. This is the reason why there are preparations to send influential leaders of Azamgarh to the Legislative Council. Former MLA Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali has also been brought to SP after breaking away from BSP. SP has asked its strategists to remain in the area, so that if there is any dissatisfaction within the party, it can be contained.
SP sources say that SP President Akhilesh Yadav himself can contest elections from both these seats. This decision has also been taken keeping in mind that with the entry of Akhilesh Yadav, there will be no scope for differences within the party at the local level. On the other hand, the speculations about any leader from Akhilesh family contesting elections from Sambhal have come to an end. SP sources say that Shivpal Yadav is contesting from Badaun, hence there is no question of fielding any Yadav from the neighboring Sambhal seat.