Lucknow, Apr 16 (UNI) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Tuesday released its fifth list of 11 candidates for Lok Sabha elections and changed its nominee for the Mainpuri seat.
The party has fielded Shiv Prasad Yadav from Mainpuri in place of Gulshan Dev Shakya. It may be noted that sitting MP Dimple Yadav, who is the wife of Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, is contesting from Mainpuri.
Entry of Tourism Minister in Uttar Pradesh government Thakur Jaiveer Singh as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate has changed the equation on the Mainpuri seat. It may be noted that Mainpuri is considered to be SP's bastion.
Before Dimple Yadav won the by-election from Mainpuri, this seat was held by SP patriarch and founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. In fact, the by-poll on this seat was necessitated in 2022 following the demise of the former Chief Minister.
BSP has given tickets to the sitting chairman of Zila Panchayat, Shrikala Singh, who is the wife of ex-MP Dhananjay Singh. Initially, Dhananjay had announced to contest from Jaunpur, but he received a setback after being convicted by a local court and sentenced to seven years imprisonment in March in a four-year-old kidnapping and extortion case.
Dhananjay had moved the High Court against the lower, but his application has yet to come up for hearing. In Jaunpur, while the BJP has fielded Kripa Shankar Singh, the SP has named former minister Babu Singh Kushwaha as its nominee.
In Varanasi, the party has pitched Athar Jamal Lari against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It may be mentioned here that president of UP Congress, Ajay Rai, is also contesting from Varanasi as a joint candidate of INDI alliance.
The party has fielded Muslim Khan from Badaun against Aditya Yadav, son of senior SP leader and national general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav.
Among other candidates, the party has fielded Chhotelal Gangwar from Bareilly, Udayraj Verma from Sultanpur, and Kranti Pandey from Farrukhabad. Mayank Dwivedi from Banda, Khwaja Shamsuddin from Doimariyaganj, Lallan Singh Yadav from Ballia, and Umesh Kumar Singh from Ghazipur.
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