UP polls: Cong not fielding candidates against Akhilesh, Shivpal Yadav

Lucknow, Feb 1: The Congress party has decided not to field candidates against Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav on Karhal and Jaswant Nagar assembly seats. The deadline for both the seats ended on Tuesday.

The Samajwadi Party had not fielded candidates on Rae Bareilly and Amethi Lok Sabha seats against INC leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 general polls. In a reciprocal gesture, the grand old party is not fielding anyone from the aforementioned seats.

Although the local unit of Congress had sent a list of six names for Jaswant Nagar seat, the party high command did not approve of any name for the constituency.

The Congress party had earlier declared Gyanwati Yadav as its candidate for the Karhal assembly seat. However, Congress decided to withdraw his candidature after Akhilesh Yadav filed his nomination.

For the first time, Akhilesh Yadav is contesting the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls from Karhal, falling within the Lok Sabha constituency Mainpuri held by his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. Shivpal Singh Yadav is in the fray on the Jaswant Nagar seat for the sixth time. Both the seats will go to the polls on February 20 in the third phase of the seven-phase UP assembly elections.

Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases between February 10 and March 7 and the results will be announced on March 10.