LUCKNOW: Akhilesh Yadav’s decision to give party nominations to three “outsiders” in the fifth and latest list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections has not gone down well with the party rank and file. Many aspiring Samajwadi Party leaders from western UP’s Nagina, Meerut and Bhadohi seats feel disappointed.
The party nominees declared in the third round of candidate selection on Friday, especially in a few western UP seats, have fueled discontent. The party preferred Advocate Bhanu Pratap Singh from the Meerut seat and retired additional district judge (Bijnor) Manoj Kumar from Nagina in Bijnor district while sparing the Bhadohi seat for Trinamool Congress, an INDIA ally.
Party insiders say sitting MLA Atul Pradhan of Sardhana in Meerut district was an aspirant for the ticket from Meerut. He was ready to field his wife if the party did not select him. The BJP has been winning from Meerut since 2014, and Rajendra Agarwal has been the MP twice. The BSP was the runner-up in 2014 and 2019.
After the list, Pradhan wrote on X: “The people of Meerut prayed for me. I apologise to you for not getting a chance.”
Even the candidature of Manoj Kumar, the party’s choice for Nagina Lok Sabha constituency, has also caused some resentment. Manoj Kumar joined the SP only recently. It was speculated that the SP would leave the Nagina constituency, a reserved seat, for Azad Samaj Party chief Chandra Shekhar Azad ‘Ravan.’ Current party MLA Manoj Kumar Paras was also seeking a ticket from the seat for his wife Neelam. Girish Chandra was the joint SP-BSP candidate for Nagina in 2019.
BSP MP Sangeeta joins BJP
BSP MP Sangeeta Azad, who represents Uttar Pradesh’s Lalganj seat in the outgoing Lok Sabha, joined the BJP on Monday in the presence of several senior leaders of the ruling party. The Dalit leader was inducted into the BJP by its national general secretary Vinod Tawde, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak and state BJP president Bhupendra Singh. Tawde assured that the BJP will give Azad full opportunity to make her contribution