Lok Sabha elections: Shivpal to contest from UP’s Firozabad against nephew Akshay, releases list of 31 candidates

Founder of the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) Shivpal Yadav on Tuesday announced that he will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh against his nephew and sitting SP MP Akshay Yadav.

Shivpal Yadav.

LUCKNOW: Rebel SP leader Shivpal Yadav, who recently floated the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party, has released a list of 31 candidates from his party for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. Shivpal, who parted ways with the SP after Akhilesh Yadav in a coup of sorts dethroned his father Mulayam Singh Yadav as party chief in December 2016, said he will contest from Firozabad seat against his nephew Akshay Yadav, who is the sitting SP MP and party candidate this time as well. Akshay is the son of Shivpal's estranged cousin and SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav. Among those who were given tickets by the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) are: Haji Mohammed Owaish from Saharanpur, Dr. Omveer Singh from Muzaffarnagar, Chaudhary Ilam Singh Gurjar from Bijnore, Dr. Nasir Ali from Meerut, Gajendra Singh Bali from Baghpat, Sevaram Kasana from Ghaziabad, Matloob Ahmed from Amroha, Sanjay Saxena from Rampur. The party has also announced candidates from Gautam Buddh Nagar, Fatehpur Sikri, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Hardoi, Misrikh, Unnao, Farrukhabad, Kanpur, Akbarpur, Mohanlalganj, Bahraich, Kaiserganj, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Basti, Lalganj, Jaunpur, Maharajganj, Robertsganj and Sambhal.

Uttar Pradesh: Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party founder Shivpal Yadav to contest Lok Sabha elections from Firozabad seat against nephew Akshay Yadav. pic.twitter.com/094ybyH2xc

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Meanwhile, the SP earlier this month declared that Mulayam Singh Yadav will contest elections from its stronghold Mainpuri and that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's wife, Dimple Yadav, would contest from Kannauj, where she is the sitting MP. The party has decided to field MP Dharmendra Yadav the current seat of Badaun. Also, Akhilesh Yadav had hinted that he may contest the LS polls from Azamgarh. The former number two in the SP, Shivpal, is the younger brother of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. Shivpal, who was formerly irrigation and PWD minister in successive SP government, has broken ranks with the SP after Akhilesh Yadav saw him out as the state SP chief in January 2017 and completely banished him from the party. Shivpal waited for more than a year before he decided to carve out his own outfit, initially named as Samajwadi Secular Front. Mulayam Singh Yadav who initially threw his weight behind Shivpal has since distanced himself from his younger brother and is inching closer to his son. SP leaders allege that Shivpal is being propped up by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to dent the prospects of the SP, especially in Yadav-dominated belts.