Dimple Yadav trails in Kannauj, concedes loss

KANPUR: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav, the sitting MP from Kannauj, was trailing by 12,086 votes from her stronghold in a close battle with BJP’s Subrat Pathak. The two-time MP from Kannauj had secured 5,49,200 votes and was behind Pathak, who had bagged 5,61,286 votes.
In a display of affection, Dimple had touched BSP chief Mayawati’s feet before addressing a gathering at a rally.Mayawati had in turn sought votes for Dimple saying that she was her daughter-in-law. “She has become bahu of my family too,” Mayawati had said.
Dimple took over Kannauj after Akhilesh resigned from Lok Sabha in 2012 after becoming chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
In 2009, Akhilesh had won from two Lok Sabha seats — Kannauj and Firozabad. He kept Kannauj, leaving Firozabad for Dimple, but she lost to Congress candidate Raj Babbar. In 2012, when Akhilesh became chief minister, Dimple contested from Kannauj again and won.
In 2014, despite the Modi wave, Dimple won the seat again in a close fight against Pathak.
Kannauj is one of the constituencies that have been SP stronghold and was one of the seven seats which BJP and allies had failed to win in 2014 polls. The seat has been with SP since 1998 when Pradeep Kumar Yadav won first.