Meerut Lok Sabha Seat: SP Changes Candidate For 2nd Time, Fields Ex-MLA's Wife Sunita Verma

Meerut Lok Sabha Seat: Samajwadi Party (SP) changed its candidate for the Meerut Lok Sabha constituency for the second time. It has now fielded the wife of former MLA Yogesh Verma, Sunita Verma.

Meerut Lok Sabha Seat: For the second time, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has changed its candidate for the Meerut Lok Sabha constituency, sources told ABP News on Thursday. This time, it has fielded former MLA Yogesh Verma's wife, Sunita Verma. The party had previously named Atul Pradhan to contest polls from the seat.  

It is to be noted that earlier Bhanu Pratap Singh a.k.a "giant killer" was replaced with Sardhana MLA Atul Pradhan as the party's candidate from the Meerut Lok Sabha seat. The Samajwadi Party is set to pose a tough challenge to the BJP’s Arun Govil, who played Lord Ram in Ramayana.

Media reports citing inside party sources had said that Pradhan's entry was made to ensure that the Meerut contest is not one-sided, as was previously expected with "outsider" Bhanu Singh in the race.

While Pradhan unsuccessfully ran for the Sardhana Assembly seat several times beginning in 2012, in the 2022 Assembly elections, he defeated firebrand BJP leader Sangeet Som by more than 18,000 votes.

Pradhan (41) is a Gurjar and has been with the SP since graduating from Chaudhary Charan Singh University. He previously served as president of the party's Chatra Sabha (student wing). Seema, Pradhan's wife, was elected Sardhana zilla parishad chief in 2015 and ran unsuccessfully for Meerut mayor last year with the support of the SP.

The SP's decision to initially field Bhanu Singh from the seat perplexed party leaders. Singh, a Supreme Court lawyer and resident of Sahibabad near Delhi, ran for the Sikandrabad seat in the 2017 Assembly elections as the candidate of the Rashtriya Janhit Sangharsh Party, which he founded, and received slightly more than 1,000 votes.

Singh is a Supreme Court lawyer who has spoken out against the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), claiming they are not foolproof. He also participated in the prayers held in memory of eight farmers who were allegedly mowed down by former Union Minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish in Lakhimpur Kheri.

The Meerut Lok Sabha seat is estimated to have 35% Muslim voters, while Jats and Gujjars, who are classified as OBCs, account for approximately 11% and 5%, respectively. Scheduled castes (SCs) account for approximately 19% of the electorate.

The BJP is counting on Govil's appeal as the actor who played Ram in the well-known Ramayana, as well as the fact that he is a local. Vineet Sharda, the state chief of the BJP's trade cell, stated that the SP would not pose a challenge to the party. "The party has held the Meerut Lok Sabha seat since 2009, when sitting MP Rajendra Agarwal won it for the first time and has retained it three times since. Govil, who grew up in Meerut and studied here until graduation, outperforms Pradhan and Bhanu Singh.