MSY to contest LS poll from Mainpuri, Akhilesh Kannauj

Lucknow, January 22

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav today said he would like to contest General Election 2019 from Kannauj, presently held by his wife Dimple Yadav.

“I will like to contest from Kannauj,” he told reporters here after paying tribute to veteran socialist leader Janeshwar Mishra on his death anniversary. Replying to a question, Akhilesh said “netaji” (Mulayam Singh Yadav) would contest from Mainpuri.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha poll, the 78-year-old SP patriarch had contested from Azamgarh and Mainpuri and won both, but chose to retain Azamgarh to strengthen the party in eastern Uttar Pradesh. He vacated Mainpuri, which was then won in a bypoll by his grandson, Tej Pratap Yadav.

SP insiders said the decision of the party chief to contest the next General Election from Kannauj was aimed at quelling allegations of promoting “dynasty” in the party. Kannauj could, however, pose crucial test for the SP in the present scenario as in last year’s Assembly poll, the party had lost two of the three seats in the Lok Sabha constituency to the BJP while it won the Kannauj city seat by just 2,000 votes.

To make matters worse, the SP lost all three nagar palika chairman seats and all five nagar panchayat chairman seats in Kannauj in the recent civic poll.

Dimple Yadav had beaten the BJP candidate in 2014 by just 20,000 votes. Akhilesh Yadav has represented Kannauj thrice in the Lok Sabha before relinquishing the seat after becoming the Chief Minister in 2012.

Speaking about the current BJP regime in the state, Akhilesh charged the Yogi government with “failing” on all fronts. “The government has failed on all fronts. There is no law and order in the state,” he said. — PTI