Shivpal Singh Yadav loses in Firozabad, party fails to open account

LUCKNOW: National president of Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) and Firozabad candidate Shivpal Singh Yadav on Thursday lost his maiden election under the banner of his newly constituted party.
The PSP(L) contested in 65 seats of Uttar Pradesh and from 10 other states, but failed to win anywhere. Shivpal came third in Firozabad, after his nephew Akshay Yadav, in the high-stake seat that was won by Chandra Sen Jadon of BJP.
Shivpal had formed his party in 2018 after parting ways with Samajwadi Party. To ensure his victory from Firozabad, SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav had made an appearance at his maiden rally in Lucknow in October 2018. This despite the fact that he was neither sent a formal invitation nor was his poster put up by the party.
State spokesperson of PSP(L) Sundarlal Lodhi said the eight-month-old party got little time to prepare for the LS polls. “We accept the verdict of the people. We had little time to prepare. We had withdrawn our party candidate in Kannauj where Dimple Yadav was contesting, but we didn’t get the response we deserved,” said Lodhi.