Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav will contest from the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, the party announced on Wednesday. The filing of his nomination is scheduled for 12 pm on Thursday, ahead of the voting in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha election, set for May 13. Results for the Kannauj seat will be declared on June 4.
Initially, the SP had nominated Tej Pratap Yadav—Akhilesh Yadav’s nephew and the son-in-law of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav—as its candidate from Kannauj. However, speculations grew about Akhilesh Yadav’s candidacy, which was officially confirmed with the latest announcement.
Akhilesh Yadav’s return to Kannauj represents a significant political development, as the seat holds a special place in his career. He won Kannauj in 2000 and later represented the seat in 2004 and 2009. Yadav vacated the seat in 2012 after becoming the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, leading to his wife Dimple Yadav winning the by-election unopposed. Dimple Yadav retained the seat in 2014 but lost it to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2019.
The SP chief’s return to Kannauj comes amid heightened speculation about the outcome of the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh, with his party’s focus on defeating the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Akhilesh Yadav’s comments to the media on Wednesday fueled anticipation about his candidacy. When asked about his contesting from Kannauj, Yadav said, “See, when there are nominations, you will get to know. Maybe you will get to know before nominations also.”
Regarding the SP’s prospects in the elections, Yadav expressed confidence in a strong performance against the BJP, indicating that the INDIA bloc could prevail over the NDA. He stated, “The question here is of historic victory from the seat. The BJP will become history in this election as people have made up their minds for the INDIA bloc. People are going to vote against the NDA. PDA will defeat the NDA this time.”
With Akhilesh Yadav’s confirmation, a total of five Yadav family members will be contesting in the Lok Sabha elections. Besides Akhilesh, the list includes Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri, Akshay Yadav from Firozabad, Aditya Yadav from Badaun, and Dharmendra Yadav from Azamgarh.
The Samajwadi Party is contesting 63 seats in Uttar Pradesh as part of its seat-sharing arrangement with Congress, which is contesting on 17 seats. This alliance aims to create a unified front to challenge the BJP in one of India’s most politically significant states.
