SP announces the list of 325 candidates for Assembly polls

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday announced a list of 325 candidates, out of 403 seats, for the Assembly polls. Mulayam said that the names of remaining 78 candidates will be released after consulting all stakeholders. The SP chief categorically stated that his party would go it alone in the election.

Addressing the media in Lucknow on Wednesday, Mulayam said, “The list of 325 candidates is final and no one from this list will be changed. This also includes 176 sitting MLAs.’’ The list, however, does not include the name of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. On the question of Akhilesh’ candidature, the SP chief put the ball in the CM’s court saying, “It’s for Akhilesh to decide from which seat he wants to contest.’’ Akhilesh had earlier expressed the desire to contest from three seats in Bundelkhand — Charkhari in Mahoba, Baberu in Banda, and Babinaa in Jhansi.

However, three Ministers close to Akhilesh have been denied party tickets in the first list of candidates. Social Welfare Minister Ram Govind Chaudhary, Rural Development Minister Arvind Singh Gope, and Minister of State for Forest Pawan Pandey have been denied tickets from their seats. Instead, the party fielded Rakesh Verma, son of veteran Beni Prasad Verma, in place of Gope from Ramnagar seat of Barabanki. But four Ministers — Ambika Choudhary and Narad Rai from Ballia and Om Prakash Singh and Shadab Fatima from Ghazipur  earlier dropped from the Cabinet by Akhilesh for their proximity to Shivpal Yadav — were named in the candidates list. Controversial Minister Gyatri Prajapati, who was sacked by the CM in September only to be reinducted later on, too has been fielded from his old



seat Amethi.

Asked about the CM face of the party, Mulayam said, “Never in the SP’s history the name of the CM candidate has been projected before the polls. It is decided by MLAs in the Legislature party meet after the elections.’’Asked about how many of Akhilesh loyalists figure in the recent list, the SP chief said, “This is for you to analyse. I have used my discretion in deciding tickets and I have tried to adjust people as much as I could.’’

Earlier, both Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle State SP chief Shivpal Yadav had submitted separate list of candidates to the SP chief. While the SP chief was flanked by Shivpal, Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey and others at the Press conference, Akhilesh was conspicuous by his absence.Shivpal has been nominated to contest from his traditional Jaswant Nagar seat in Etawah.

Ignoring vehement opposition from Akhilesh, the SP chief chose to accommodate all tainted leaders in the list of 325 candidates. This includes Atiq Ahmed from Kanpur Cantonment, Mokhtar Ansari’s brother Sibgatullah Ansari from Mohammadabad (Ghazipur), and BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui’s brother Hasnuddin Siddiqui from Banda.

SP legislator from Biswan (Sitapur) Rampal Yadav, who was expelled by the CM and readmitted into the party earlier this week, has also been given ticket from the same seat. Mulayam’s daughter-in-law Aparna Yadav has been fielded from Lucknow Cantonment seat, while Minister Azam Khan’s son Abdullah Azam will contest from Swar Tanda seat in Rampur.

Mulayam Singh said that the candidates were selected from a total of 4,200 applications in a transparent manner after assessing their winnability.