Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav said on Monday that he would like to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the state’s Kannauj constituency. It is presently held by his wife Dimple Yadav.
“I want to contest from Kannauj, but the decision will be taken by the party,” Yadav said at a programme in Lucknow, according to News18. “However, Neta Ji [Mulayam Singh Yadav] will contest from Mainpuri.”
Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav had contested from both the Azamgarh and Mainpuri seats during the 2014 general elections. After he won both, he retained the Azamgarh seat and vacated the Mainpuri seat, which was then won by his grandson Tej Pratap Yadav in a bye-election.
Akhilesh Yadav decided to contest from Kannauj to quell rumours that there was “dynasty” politics in the party, PTI reported, citing sources.
On January 10, the Samajwadi Party had ruled out the possibility of any alliances for the 2019 general elections “as of now”, which was seen as bad news for the Congress. The Congress had contested the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the Samajwadi Party in 2017. The Bharatiya Janata Party won a whopping 321 seats in the state polls while the SP-Congress alliance bagged only 54.
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