Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday defended the party's decision of giving tickets to those who are facing criminal charges and said most of the cases had been filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government.
"Gayatri Prajapati's wife doesn't have any case against her, cases are against the husband. Most cases against Azam Khan were lodged under BJP rule. As far as Nahid Hasan is concerned, BJP lodged most cases against him", said Akhilesh.
The jailed leader Azam Khan is in the fray to contest the election from his traditional Rampur seat whereas Nahid Hasan will fight from Kairana.
Khan's son Abdullah Azam has been made the party candidate from the Suar Tanda assembly seat.
On Monday, the Uttar Pradesh-based party has released its first list of 159 candidates for the upcoming Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. Among the key appearances named in the list are party president Akhilesh Yadav and imprisoned party MP Azam Khan.
In the latest list released, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's name features prominently as he will be contesting from the Karhal assembly seat.
Shivpal Yadav, who is the uncle of Akhilesh Yadav, has been declared as the party candidate from the family bastion of Jaswantnagar assembly constituency in Etawah district.
UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Tuesday slammed Akhilesh and said, "Akhilesh Yadav and his alliance will not be able to stop BJP from winning. The candidates' list released by the Samajwadi Party has given a message that it's not a political party but a gang of goons, criminals, and mafias".
Former state minister Dharam Singh Saini, who crossed over to the SP a few days ago, has been named as the party's nominee from the Nakur seat in the Saharanpur district.