Not Akhilesh Yadav, Tej Pratap To Contest From Kannauj; SP Fields Sanatan Pandey Again From Ballia Despite 2019 Loss

Samajwadi Party (SP) declared its two candidates in Uttar Pradesh on Monday (22 April) for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Contrary to the prevalent buzz of SP national president Akhilesh Yadav contesting from Kannauj, the party has fielded Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, whose name was also among one of the contenders.

Tej Pratap is the grandson of late SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother Ranveer Singh. His name was earlier rumoured as Rampur candidate.

Kannauj is considered to be a SP bastion as the party held this seat for over two decades from 1998 to 2019. However, the BJP was able to break into it in 2019 by defeating Akhilesh's wife Dimple Yadav.

Dimple Yadav is now contesting from Mainpuri, a seat she won in the 2022 by-polls after her father-in-law Mulayam Singh Yadav's demise.

Notably, Tej Pratap was elected as a Mainpuri MP in 2014 by-polls after Mulayam Singh Yadav vacated this seat.

Sanatan Pandey is fielded from Ballia where the BJP candidate is Rajya Sabha MP and son of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, Neeraj Shekhar.

Pandey had earlier too contested from here in 2019 on the SP ticket but lost to BJP's Virendra Singh Mast. However, Mast's ticket was cut this time to field Shekhar.

Notably, Shekhar himself had contested from here on the SP ticket thrice. While he won in 2008 by-polls and 2009 elections, he lost to BJP's Bharat Singh in 2014.