MSY back on turf Mainpuri, Dimple in Kannauj bastion

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav will again be in the fray from his pocket borough Mainpuri while his daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav will contest from another party hub, Kannauj, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. These two big names were announced in the first list of nine SP candidates released on Friday.
The list also includes names of Dharmendra Yadav from Badaun and Akshay Yadav from Ferozabad.While Dharmendra is Mulayam’s nephew, Akshay is the son of party founder’s cousin Ram Gopal Yadav. Both are sitting MPs from the two seats.
Of nine candidates declared, four are from the Yadav clan. This is in sharp contrast to SP national president Akhilesh Yadav’s much-vaunted statement against dynasty politics that Dimple won’t contest the 2019 elections. He first made the announcement on September 24, 2017, while addressing the national executive of Yadav Mahasabha at Raipur. Later, Akhilesh went on to drop broad hints he may contest from Kannauj in place of Dimple, who’s the sitting MP.
Mulayam’s candidature from Mainpuri, a constituency he thrice represented, is considered to be the safest bet for anyone in the Yadav first family. In 2014, Mulayam, a wily politician, apparently sensed the Modi wave in advance and contested from twin seats of Mainpuri and Azamgarh. He won from both seats and later vacated Mainpuri which the SP retained in the bypoll by fielding Mulayam’s close relative Tej Pratap alias Teju.
The sitting MP from Badaun, Dharmendra’s candidature has brought to an end to all speculation of Congress’ induction into the SP-BSP alliance beyond Rae Bareli and Amethi. Congress has already declared Salim Shervani will contest from Badaun.
Another interesting contest appears to be building up in Ferozabad where SP has repeated its sitting MP Akshay Yadav, son of party’s principal general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav. Akshay is all set to compete against party president Akhilesh Yadav’s estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav, who has recently floated his new outfit, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L) and announced he will contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Ferozabad parliamentary constituency.
The party also announced names of Kamlesh Katheriya, Bhailal Kol and Shabbir Valmiki as candidates from Etawah, Roberstganj and Bahraich reserved constituencies respectively. The list also includes names of Usha Verma from Hardoi and Poorvi Verma from Lakhimpur. While Usha Verma has thrice represented Hardoi as MP, Poorvi Verma is a JNU passout and is the daughter of Rajya Sabha MP Ravi Verma.