Samajwadi Party may change its Lok Sabha candidate from Kannauj, replacing Tej Pratap Singh Yadav with its national president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. Akhilesh is likely to file a nomination tomorrow. Earlier, the SP had made former MP Tej Pratap Singh Yadav its candidate from Kannauj. His candidature was announced on Monday along with that of Sanatan Pandey from Ballia.
On the other hand, BJP has once again given a Lok Sabha ticket to its sitting MP Subrata Pathak from Kannauj. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Subrata Pathak registered a massive victory over SP's high-profile candidate Dimple Yadav, wife of Akhilesh Yadav, in Kannauj. The polling in Kannauj is to take place in the fourth phase on 13 May along with 12 other constituencies in the state.
Tej Pratap Singh Yadav is the grandson of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and son-in-law of former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav. In 2014, Mulayam Singh Yadav contested Lok Sabha elections from Mainpuri and Azamgarh, winning both. After he left Mainpuri, Samajwadi Party made Tej Pratap Yadav as its candidate for by-election. He won and reached the lower house of the Parliament. Tej Pratap was, however, not given ticket in the general elections in 2019.
Uttar Pradesh has the most, 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in the country for which the Election Commission of India has announced 7-phase polling. In the last general elections in 2019, BJP registered a landslide victory, winning 71 seat in the state while Samajwadi Party managed to win only 5 seats.
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