Akhilesh Yadav takes poll plunge, to contest from SP bastion Karhal in Mainpuri

Lucknow, Jan 22: Ending all speculations, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday announced that he will contest Uttar Pradesh assembly elections from the Karhal seat in Mainpuri district, which is in his family's home turf.

This is for the first time that Yadav is going fight a state election. He is currently a Lok Sabha member of Parliament from Azamgarh.

Karhal has been an SP stronghold and the party had won the seat in the past three assembly polls in 2007, 2012 and 2017. BJP had won the seat in 2002.

The constituency has a sizable presence of Yadav voters, a traditional vote bank of the SP.

In 2012, Akhilesh Yadav became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh through the Legislative Council route.

Mainpuri has traditionally been a Samajwadi Party stronghold. The Lok sabha constituency has been with the SP for nine consecutive terms. Sitting MP and SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav is representing it for the fifth time.

At present, the SP holds three out of the four assembly seats in Mainpuri district.

Karhal, a Yadav-dominated seat, is represented by Sobaran Singh Yadav since 2007. The BJP had last won this seat in 2002 when its candidate Sovaran Singh had won the elections.

In 2014, Mulayam Singh Yadav won the Mainpuri seat by a margin of over 3.25 lakh votes, but later left the seat (retaining Azamgarh). His grandson Tej Pratap Yadav won the bypoll with a margin of 3.50 lakh votes.

The SP founder-patron again won the seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

In 2017 assembly polls, SP candidate Sobran Yadav had secured 1.04 lakh votes from Karhal, defeating the BJP's Prem Shakya by 38,405 votes.

Being adjacent to Saifai, the native place of Akhilesh Yadav, Karhal is considered a safe seat for him. Sources said choosing Karhal allows him to campaign for other candidates of the party.

The 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh is witnessing a marked change in the trend with both top rivals - chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Akhilesh Yadav - entering the fray themselves. Uttar Pradesh chief ministers since 2007 be it Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav or Adityanath in 2017 chose the legislative council route to reach the post.

While Adityanath is presently an MLC, Akhilesh Yadav is an MP.

with PTI inputs