Lok Sabha elections 2024: Akhilesh Yadav to contest polls from Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav to fight Lok Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj seat. SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav confirmed the news today (April 24). 

In Kannauj, which goes to the polls in the fourth phase on May 13, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded sitting MP Subrat Pathak.

Akhilesh to file nomination papers 

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will file his nomination papers as party candidate from Kannauj Lok Sabha seat on April 25 (Thursday).

Akhilesh Yadav served as Lok Sabha MP from 2000-2012. He resigned from the Kannauj parliamentary seat in 2012 after he became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. In 2017, his party was unable to form government in UP and he submitted his resignation to the Governor. He was elected Lok Sabha MP in 2019, and went on to be elected to the UP Assembly in 2022.

Following the UP Assembly polls, Yadav resigned as Lok Sabha MP and retained his state assembly seat.

 

Earlier, SP fielded Tej Pratap from Kannauj

SP has fielded Tej Pratap Singh Yadav from the parliamentary seat. The seat was once represented by party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple. Tej Pratap, a former MP from Mainpuri and nephew of Akhilesh Yadav is also the son-in-law of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. He is married to Lalu's daughter Raj Laxmi Yadav. Tej Pratap is the grandson of late SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother Ranveer Singh. He was Mainpuri MP from 2014 to 2019.

Uttar Pradesh's 2nd phase polling 

The seats that will go to polls in the second phase in Uttar Pradesh on April 26 include- Amroha, Meerut, Mathura, Baghpat, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar and Bulandshahar. 

The seats that will go to polls in the second phase in Uttar Pradesh on April 26 include- Amroha, Meerut, Mathura, Baghpat, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar and Bulandshahar.  In this phase, two Bollywood stars are contesting -- Hema Malini from Mathura and Arun Govil from Meerut. In the second phase, a total of 91 candidates from UP are in the fray.

A maximum of 15 candidates each are trying their luck in Gautam Buddha Nagar and Mathura seats. Six candidates are trying their electoral fortunes in Bulandshahr. In Amroha, 12 candidates are in the fray, while in Meerut eight, Baghpat seven and 14 each in Ghaziabad and Aligarh.

The fate of these candidates will be decided by 1,67,77,198 voters. In this phase, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed election meetings in Meerut and Aligarh and held a roadshow in Ghaziabad. The second phase will also decide whether BSP MP Kunwar Danish Ali, who left the BSP to join the Congress will be able to repeat his past success on the Amroha seat or not.

The electoral fate of Ghaziabad BJP MLA Atul Garg, who served as the Minister of State in the first term of the Yogi government, will also be decided in the second phase. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath conducted public meetings in Amroha and Baghpat and held a roadshow in Meerut while Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also addressed a public meeting in Gautam Buddha Nagar in support of the BJP candidate.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav held public meetings in Aligarh and Baghpat in support of his party candidates in this phase. BSP supremo Mayawati sought support for her party candidates through public meetings in Aligarh and Meerut. The I.N.D.I.A bloc organised a joint rally featuring Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav in Amroha and held a joint press conference in Ghaziabad.

2019 poll data of Uttar Pradesh

In the 2019 general elections, the BJP emerged triumphant, securing 62 out of 80 seats, supplemented by two seats clinched by its ally Apna Dal (S). Mayawati's BSP managed to secure 10 seats, while Akhilesh Yadav's SP garnered five. Conversely, the Congress party secured only one seat.Meanwhile, SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday lashed out at the BJP and PM Modi accsuing them of not having respect for the constitution.

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