LUCKNOW: A day after being announced as SP candidate from Kannauj, uncertainty loomed large over the candidature of Tej Pratap Yadav, the nephew of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, on Tuesday.
As per SP sources, under the pressure of the district unit, Akhilesh agreed to contest the polls from Kannauj himself. He is likely to file his nomination on Thursday. Sources claimed that party workers were mounting pressure on him to contest from his bastion. In fact, a SP delegation from Kannauj called on Akhilesh on Tuesday urging him to contest. So he agreed, but an official word in this regard has yet to come from the party.
“Senior leaders are of the view that Tej Pratap will win Kannauj seat but if Akhilesh enters the fray, his candidature will have an impact on at least half a dozen other seats around Kannauj,” said a SP leader.
Akhilesh had done his electoral debut from Kannauj in 2000. He then won the seat thrice in the Lok Sabha, while his wife Dimple Yadav won the seat in the 2012 bypoll when tghe SP chief resigned after getting elected as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. In 2014, Dimple won Kannauj but lost it to BJP’s Subrat Pathak in 2019. Kannauj will vote in the fourth phase on May 13 and two days are left to file nomination.