Akhilesh Yadav to file papers from Karhal today

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New Delhi, January 30

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav would on Monday file his nomination papers from Karhal Assembly seat in Mainpuri, according to party leaders.

This will be the Azamgarh MP’s first Assembly election as when the SP emerged victorious in 2012, Akhilesh had become the CM after taking membership of the UP legislative council. Likewise, it’s the first Vidhan Sabha election for CM Yogi Adityanath, who is contesting from Gorakhpur (Urban).

Yogi fighting the state polls is said to be one of the reasons behind Akhilesh entering the fray. BJP leaders, including Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, had been taking potshots claiming he SP chief was “afraid” of contesting Assembly election.

While Akhilesh has patched up with his estranged uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav and announced an alliance with his Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), observers say whether the party won or not, the SP chief “needed to be there in the Assembly post-poll to control the situation and keep his flock together.

Karhal is seen as an SP stronghold and the BJP could field Akhilesh’s sister-in-law Aparna Yadav, who recently joined the saffron party.

Meanwhile, the SP chief hit out at the BJP, saying the saffron party was one short of hitting a “century” of tickets given to candidates with a criminal history.

In a tweet, the former Uttar Pradesh CM claimed the BJP had, so far, fielded 99 candidates with a criminal history for the upcoming Assembly polls in the state.