The Samajwadi Party on Thursday declared five more candidates for Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, taking the total number of it candidates declared so far to 27.
The list includes the names of former MLA Puja Pal from Unnao and one candidate for Madhya Pradesh. The party had earlier declared a list of 23 candidates, including one from Madhya Pradesh.
Beside Pal, former SP Minister Bhagwat Sharan Gangwar was been given ticket from Bareilly, Nasir Quereshi from Moradabad, Shyam Sunder Singh Yadav from Jhansi and Nathuni Prasad Kushwaha from Kushinagar.
The surprise inclusion in the list is Bahujan Samaj Party leader Raju Pal’s widow Puja Pal. Raju Pal was shot dead in daylight by Atiq Ahmad in Allahabad. Later the BSP fielded Puja Pal and she won the 2012 Assembly poll comfortably but lost in the 2017 Assembly election. This time, Puja has been pitted against Sakshi Maharaj, the sitting MP of Bharatiya Janata Party from Unnao, and former Congress MP Annu Tandon.
“Puja Pal is ‘Gaderia’ by caste and since Unnao has a sizeable population of Lodhi and Mallah, she seems to be a good bet,” a senior SP leader said. On the other hand, former MLA from Nawabganj (Bareilly) and a minister in Akhilesh Yadav government, Bhagwat Sharan Singh Gangwar has been fielded from Bareilly.
The inclusion of Nathuni Prasad Kushwaha’s name in the SP list also came as a surprise. Kushwaha, a veteran SP leader, contested five elections — three Assembly and two parliamentary — but lost all. He will be pitted against RPN Singh of Congress and Vijay Dubey of BJP from Kushinagar in east UP.
The BJP has denied ticket to its sitting MP Rajesh Pandey from Kushinagar this time and has replaced him with Vijay Dubey.
The SP has also fielded turncoat Naseer Quereshi from Moradabad. He contested two Assembly elections on BSP ticket in 2012 (Moradabad Dehat) and 2017 (Kaanth) but lost both. In 2018, he joined the SP and was selected as alliance candidate from Moradabad.
In Jhansi, the SP has fielded Shyam Sundar Singh Yadav, who had joined the SP after leaving the BJP.
The SP is contesting the general election in alliance with BSP and would contest on 37 seats, while the BSP would field candidates from 38 seats. Rashtriya Lok Dal, the third partner of the alliance, has been given three seats.
SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav is contesting from Mainpuri, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav from Azamgarh, his wife Dimple Yadav from Kannauj, Dharmendra Yadav from Budaun, Akshay Yadav from Ferozabad and Mohammad Azam Khan from Rampur.