Samajwadi Party Announces 6 More Lok Sabha Candidates in Uttar Pradesh

The Samajwadi Party has announced the names of six more Lok Sabha candidates from Uttar Pradesh, taking the total number of nominees declared so far to 37. The candidates include Yashveer Singh Bijnor, Manoj Kumar Nagina, Bhanu Pratap Singh Meerut, Bijendra Singh Aligarh, Jasveer Valmiki Hathras, and Daroga Saroj Lalganj.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) has announced the names of its six Lok Sabha candidates from Uttar Pradesh, bringing the total number of nominees declared so far to 37. The candidates are Yashveer Singh Bijnor, Manoj Kumar Nagina, Bhanu Pratap Singh Meerut, Bijendra Singh Aligarh, Jasveer Valmiki Hathras, and Daroga Saroj Lalganj, the party said on Friday.

SP Gives Bhadohi Seat to Trinamool Congress

The SP has given the Bhadohi Lok Sabha seat to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has fielded Laliteshpati Tripathi from the constituency. In a statement, the TMC said, "Under the guidance and inspiration of...Mamata Banerjee, we are pleased to announce the...candidate from the parliamentary constituency of Bhadohi in Uttar Pradesh. We wish the best to Laliteshpati Tripathi and hope he succeeds in this endeavour."

Laliteshpati Tripathi's Political Background

Laliteshpati Tripathi, who was then with the Congress, defeated Satyendra Kumar Patel of the Samajwadi Party by a margin of 8,523 votes in the Marihan assembly constituency in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh in 2012. Tripathi is the great-grandson of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kamalapati Tripathi. In October 2021, Laliteshpati along with his father Rajeshpati Tripathi joined the Trinamool Congress in presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Siliguri in north Bengal.

Samajwadi Party's Fourth List of Candidates

The list declared by the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party on Friday is its fourth. With this list, the total number of candidates declared by the SP stood at 37, the party's chief spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said. The SP has already left 17 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh for the Congress after both the INDIA bloc members announced their electoral tie-up on February 21.

Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha Seats

Uttar Pradesh has 80 Lok Sabha seats. Among the 17 seats on which the Congress will contest in Uttar Pradesh are Raebareli and Amethi, once considered pocket boroughs of the party, and Varanasi which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency.

Previous SP Candidate Lists

On February 20, the SP had declared its third list of five candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, fielding senior leader Shivpal Yadav from Budaun parliamentary constituency. The Samajwadi Party on February 19 had declared 11 more candidates from Uttar Pradesh, including don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari's brother and BSP MP Afzal Ansari. On January 30, the SP had announced its first list of candidates for 16 Lok Sabha seats in the state, fielding Dharmendra Yadav, the son of party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's younger brother Abhay Ram Yadav, from Budaun.