Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said on Tuesday that the lotus would bloom in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat this time as Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not campaign there in the previous two general elections in 2014 and 2019 out of respect for Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.
“We all respect ‘Netaji’ (Mulayam). The prime minister himself told me that he did not campaign in Mainpuri in 2014 and 2019 for this reason,” Maurya said, adding: “This time, lotus will bloom in Mainpuri too.”
Yadav, 82, who died on October 10, represented the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat. He had won from Mainpuri and Azamgarh seats in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, but vacated Mainpuri. He had won the seat again in the 2019 polls.
The BJP had fielded Prem Singh Shakya in 2014 and 2019 byelections against the veteran SP leader. The seat is now vacant after Mulayam Singh Yadav’s demise.
The entire Yadav clan is busy in the post-death rituals and politics has been put on the backburner by the family for now. However, there are talks in the political circle that somebody from the Yadav family would contest from the constituency. The probable names doing the rounds in the political circles include Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav, and his cousin Dharmendra Yadav. Shivpal Yadav is also a contender.
Before the death of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav had said that he would contest from Mainpuri in case his elder brother chose not to contest from there in 2024.
Shivpal Yadav, who heads the Pragatisheel Samaj Party Lohia, is known for his proximity with the BJP and speculations are rife that he could contest from Mainpuri with tacit help from the saffron party.
The BJP, which has already started preparations for the 2024 general elections, has said on several occasions that they will win all the 80 LS seats in UP, including SP bastion Mainpuri, and Rae Bareily, which is represented by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.