'What Will I Do Sitting Idle': Akhilesh Signals He May Contest LS Polls From Kannauj

When asked if he will run from Kannauj in 2024, he informed reporters: "It is our job to contest... what will I do sitting idle? I will contest from where I had contested the first election."

SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav. (Image Source: File Photo)

Akhilesh Yadav, the leader of the Samajwadi Party, said on Thursday that he may run in the 2024 parliamentary elections from Kannauj, where he was elected as an MP for the first time, news agency PTI reported.

When asked if he will run from Kannauj in 2024, he informed reporters: "It is our job to contest... what will I do sitting idle? I will contest from where I had contested the first election."

However, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister stated that the party will make a choice when the time came.

Akhilesh Yadav was in town for a private celebration hosted by party leader Sunil Kumar Gupta, often known as 'Munna Bhaiya.'

Since asked why he fielded his wife Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri in the December 5 bypoll when she had previously contested from Kannuaj, the SP president said, "Elections are in 2024 again."

The byelection in Mainpuri was called due to the death of sitting MP and SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav.

When questioned repeatedly by the media if his decision to run for Lok Sabha from Kannauj was definitive, the SP president answered, "The party will decide."

Akhilesh Yadav, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Azamgarh in the last Lok Sabha elections, withdrew from the seat after being elected to the assembly from Karhal earlier this year in order to be engaged in state politics.

Since 2000, the SP leader has won three elections from Kannauj's parliamentary seat: a bypoll in 2000, followed by regular elections in 2004 and 2009.

He was elected to the UP Legislative Council after becoming chief minister, and Dimple Yadav represented Kannauj, first in a bypoll in 2012 and then again in the 2014 general elections.

However, she was defeated in the 2019 elections by BJP's Subrat Pathak.

When warned that fielding Dimple Yadav in the Mainpuri bypoll had caused uncertainty among Kannauj activists, Akhilesh Yadav referred to Kannauj as his "karmabhoomi" and said that the people of Kannauj had elected him as MP three times.

He said that the people in Kannauj had always shown him compassion and devotion, and that he will never leave.

Veteran socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia was a Samyukta Socialist Party nominee who represented Kannauj in Parliament in 1967.

Kannauj constituency, known for its perfume trade, was formed from Farrukhabad in 1997.

Akhilesh Yadav, who is now engaged in campaigning in the Mainpuri bypoll, claimed that the Samajwadi Party was receiving strong support from the local populace.

Because "Netaji" provided the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat new dimensions and had a strong linkage, the Samajwadi Party is receiving support from all sectors of society. He noted that the Mainpuri residents are running for office.

Yadav arrived at the event and thereafter departed for Mainpuri.

(With Inputs From PTI)