LUCKNOW : The Samajwadi Party is grappling with a piquant situation over ticket distribution changing its candidates repeatedly leading to confusion and chaos which was witnessed in Moradabad and Rampur on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the party, leading the INDI Alliance in the state, changed its Gautam Budh Nagar candidate yet again on Thursday.
In a flip flop, the SP had announced the name of Dr Mahendra Nagar as party candidate from Gautam Budh Nagar initially. However, his candidature was rejected by the party cadre calling him an outsider. Dr Nagar had joined the Samajwadi Party, leaving Congress just two years ago.
Succumbing to the pressure of Gautam Budh Nagar leaders, the SP leadership struck down the ticket of Dr Nagar and gave it to a youth leader Rahul Awana. As per the SP insiders, Awana’s ticket irked the partymen further and he was replaced again by Dr Nagar.
Meanwhile, the goof-up that ended up with double candidates — Dr ST Hasan and Ruchi Veera in Moradabad and Asim Raja and Maulana Mohibullah Nadwi in Rampur — filing nomination on Wednesday left the party red-faced.
However, Hasan, the sitting SP MP from Moradabad attributed it to some compulsion of the SP chief that his candidature was cancelled at the last moment leading to huge embarrassment.
Hasan, who had filed his papers on Tuesday, said that neither would he campaign for the party in Moradabad nor would he contest the polls.
“In Rampur, as the party could not announce a candidate suggested by Azam Khan, Ruchi Veera has been made the candidate from Moradabad at his behest,” claimed the outgoing SP MP.
Hasan has not officially withdrawn his nomination papers. The last date for withdrawal of nomination is March 30. In 2014, Hasan was defeated from Moradabad as SP candidate by Kunwar Sarvesh Kumar Singh of BJP. However, in 2019, he won the Moradabad seat by defeating BJP’s Kunwar Sarvesh Kumar Singh by 97,878 votes.
Similarly, in Rampur, the election office rejected candidature of Asim Raja, a close aide of jailed SP leader Azam Khan, as SP’s nominee from Rampur seat on technical grounds on Thursday. The SP later clarified that Maulana Mohibullah Nadwi from Rampur and Ruchi Veera from Moradabad were its authorised candidates.
Hasan yet to withdraw nomination
Samajwadi Party’s Moradabad MP ST Hasan, who filed his nomination from the seat despite being denied the ticket by the party, on Thursday said he will not contest the Lok Sabha polls.However, he has not officially withdrawn his nomination papers. The last date for withdrawal of nomination is March 30. Confusion prevailed on Wednesday after two candidates each in Rampur and Moradabad seats claimed to be SP’s nominees.