The Samajwadi Party on Thursday changed its party candidate for the Meerut Lok Sabha seat in UP for a second time, replacing Atul Pradhan with former mayor Sunita Verma, who is the wife of former MLA Yogesh Verma.
Atul Pradhan, who had filed his nomination on Wednesday, said he accepts the decision of party national president Akhilesh Yadav and will hold a discussion with his colleagues soon.
The second change of candidate for the Meerut Lok Sabha seat came on Thursday (April 4), the last day for filing nomination in the seat, which will go to polls in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections.
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“I humbly accept SP chief Akhilesh Yadav ji's decision. I will soon sit and talk with my colleagues,” Pradhan said on X (formerly Twitter).
While Pradhan unsuccessfully ran for the Sardhana Assembly seat several times since 2012, he defeated firebrand BJP leader Sangeet Som by more than 18,000 votes in the 2022 Assembly elections.
“There are a lot of twists and turns in politics and real life. I believe in accepting the party's decision,” Pradhan said while speaking to ANI.
The Samajwadi Party had earlier replaced Advocate Bhanu Pratap Singh with Atul Pradhan.
Meanwhile, BJP has fielded veteran actor Arun Govil of TV serial 'Ramayan' fame from Meerut. Govil filed his nomination as the BJP candidate on Tuesday in the presence of state BJP leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, Party Regional President Satendra Sisodia and outgoing MP Rajendra Aggarwal.
The SP also earlier changed candidates for Rampur and Moradabad seats, where two candidates filed their nomination claiming themselves to be the SP candidate.
Voting will be held in Meerut on April 26 in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections. The last date for filing nominations for the phase was April 4.