Akhilesh Yadav Makes First Move, SP Announces First List For Lok Sabha Chunav 2024; Dimple Yadav To Contest From Mainpuri

In a move that may alienate Congress, the SP also fielded its candidate on Lucknow seat which Congress was demanding from Akhilesh Yadav. The SP fielded Ravidas Mehrotra from the seat. In this first list, the Samajwadi Party has fielded three family members of Akhilesh Yadav - wife Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri,  Akshay Yadav from Firozabad and Dharmendra Yadav from Badayun. The party also fielded Shafiqur Rahman Barq from the Sambhal Lok Sabha seat.

In the first list of the Samajwadi Party (SP), there are 11 candidates from the Other Backward Classes (OBC), 1 Muslim, 1 Dalit, 1 Thakur, 1 Tandon, and 1 Khatri. Among the 11 OBC candidates in the tickets, there are 4 Kurmi, 3 Yadav, 2 Shakya, 1 Nishad, and 1 Pal. SP has given a ticket to a Dalit candidate for the Ayodhya Lok Sabha seat (General category). For the first time in Etah and Farrukhabad, SP has given tickets to leaders from the Shakya community instead of Yadavs.

Samajwadi Party has offered seven seats to Rashtriya Lok Dal and 11 seats to Congress. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA had won 64 seats, the Bahujan Samaj Party of Mayawati 10 seats, Samajwadi Party five seats, and Congress one seat. The BJP is likely to contest the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with Apna Dal (S) and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party. 

(With inputs from agencies)