The Samajwadi Party (SP) that is contesting 62 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh has changed candidates in 10 of the constituencies to date, including twice in as many days.
SP president Akhilesh Yadav himself replaced his nephew Tej Pratap Yadav as the candidate from the party stronghold of Kannauj on Thursday, three days after Tej Pratap’s candidature was announced. On Friday, during scrutiny of nomination papers, the party’s Shahjahanpur candidate Rajesh Kashyap, who filed his documents on April 22 said he came to know that the SP had cancelled his name and instead fielded a candidate whose maternal uncle is an MLC.
Asked about the constant change of candidates, an SP leader said, “The party has picked a lot of leaders to contest the elections based on caste equations. But, they were not necessarily backed by the SP leadership in the district units. For instance, there are at least 15 people who have come from BSP in the last couple of years. They have also been given tickets by the SP. Now, when these outsiders are declared candidates, the party’s local leadership opposes them and the president is forced to change the nominees. In Kannauj, the local leadership started opposing Tej Pratap’s candidature.”
The BJP and the Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), the SP’s former ally, took a dig at the SP, calling it a “confused party”.
Defending the party, SP national spokesperson Faraz Uddin Kidwai said, “The BJP declined tickets to so many sitting MPs, including Meenakshi Lekhi, former General V K Singh, and Parvesh Verma. Every political party has its strategy. The BJP denied tickets to so many MPs knowing that their MPs have not done any work in the last five years and they are continuously raising irrelevant issues to divert people’s attention from their failures.”
The seats where SP has changed candidates:
Meerut: The SP announced Supreme Court lawyer Bhanu Pratap Sing as its candidate on March 15 before fielding Sardhana MLA Atul Pradhan, and then finally settling on former Meerut mayor Sunita Verma just a day before the April 4 deadline to file nominations.
Baghpat: The party fielded Manoj Chaudhary who unsuccessfully contested from the Chaprauli Assembly seat in 2012 and 2017 but then declared former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA from Sahibabad Amarpal Sharma.
Gautam Buddh Nagar: The party fielded former Congress district president Dr Mahendra Nagar on March 16, then declared Rahul Awana as its candidate. It switched back to Nagar 12 days later.
Badaun: The party changed its candidate thrice from this high-profile seat. First, it fielded former MP and Akhilesh’s cousin Dharmendra Yadav and then named the SP chief’s uncle and senior leader Shivpal Yadav days later. Then on April 14, the party announced that Shivpal’s son Aditya would make his electoral debut from the seat.
Misrikh: From this seat, the party first announced former MP Rama Shankar Bhargawa, changed it to MLA Ram Pal Rajwanshi, then to his son Manoj, and finally fielded Manoj’s wife Sangeeta. It finally brought back its original choice Rama Shankar Bhargawa to contest from the seat.
Bijnor: The party announced the candidature of former Nagina MP Yashveer Singh on March 15. A week later, it fielded Noorpur MLA Ram Avtar Saini’s son Deepak Saini.
Sultanpur: The party fielded state secretary Bheem Nishad from the seat but named former BSP minister Ram Bhuwal Nishad as its candidate on April 14. There is speculation that the party may change its nominee from the seat yet again.
Moradabad: The party first fielded sitting MP ST Hasan but allotted its symbol to former Bijnor MLA Ruchi Veera, a close associate of veteran leader Azam Khan, on the last day of filing nomination from the seat on March 28.
Kannauj: The party on April 22 said Akhilesh’s nephew Tej Pratap Yadav was its official candidate, but announced two days later that the SP chief himself would contest from the seat that was a Yadav family bastion — the SP has won the seat six times since 1999 — till 2019 when the BJP won it.
Shahjahanpur: The party fielded 43-year-old Rajesh Kashyap but on Friday he came to know that he had been replaced by 26-year-old Jyotsna Gond. “A letter from Akhilesh Yadav was submitted to the returning officer stating that my name has been cancelled and now Jyotsna Gond is their candidate. After seeing this letter, I felt cheated by the party and the president,” said Kashyap who claimed he had been preparing for the election for the past three years after Akhilesh asked him to.
— With inputs from Manish Sahu
