Uttar Pradesh 2024: The Two Most Probable BJP Candidates From Mainpuri Against SP's Dimple Yadav

While the Samajwadi Party (SP) declared sitting MP Dimple Yadav as its candidate from Mainpuri in its first list for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in January itself, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to declare its candidate.

Meanwhile, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) declared Dr Gulshan Shakya as its candidate. He is a homeopathic doctor by profession and has been with the BSP since his father's time.

As per media reports, Uttar Pradesh's Tourism Minister Jaiveer Singh and Dharmendra Yadav's brother-in-law Anujesh Pratap Singh are the front-runners in bagging a BJP ticket from Mainpuri.

Speculations around Singh's name gained momentum when he was called to Delhi on Saturday (6 April). If he indeed gets a ticket, the party will be fielding a Rajput candidate from Mainpuri after a decade.

In the last three elections (2014 by-polls, 2019 and 2022 by-polls), the BJP fielded Shakya candidates, but did not register a victory in the seat. Notably, since the formation of SP, no other party has won the Mainpuri seat.

The seat has been the bastion of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and after his demise, it was won by his daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav in the 2022 by-elections.

The other probable BJP candidate Anujesh Pratap Singh is related to Akhilesh Yadav. He is the brother-in-law of Akhilesh's cousin Dharmendra Yadav, and had joined BJP before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

It is pertinent to mention that Dharmendra Yadav had himself won the Mainpuri seat in the 2004 elections. However, he won the subsequent elections of 2009 and 2014 from Budaun, leaving this seat for Mulayam.

The BJP's best performance here has been in the 2019 elections with a vote share of 44 per cent, when Prem Singh Shakya was the candidate. However, he was not chosen for the 2022 by-elections.

Meanwhile, Anujesh has claimed that he is ready to give a tough fight to Dimple Yadav if party chooses him. He asserted that half of the Yadavs support him and highlighted that he campaigned against Dimple during 2022 by-polls as well.

Anujesh's wife and Mulayam Yadav's niece Sandhya Yadav is also a BJP member now. Earlier, she was Mainpuri district panchayat's chairperson. If the BJP decides to field a woman against Dimple Yadav, she might get a ticket.

Yadav is the most influential community in this seat with a population of around 4.25 lakh. They are followed by Shakyas at population of around 3.25 lakh and Brahmins around 1.1 lakh.

As per the 2011 Census, Scheduled Castes in Mainpuri district are around 20 per cent and Muslims are around 11 per cent. The district has negligible population of Scheduled Tribes and other religious minorities.