The Hindu : National : Akhilesh Yadav shifted from Kannauj

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Akhilesh Yadav shifted from Kannauj

Special Correspondent

Likely to be fielded from Firozabad,
now a general seat
Candidates’ list to be finalised in July

LUCKNOW: Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party president and the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh’s son, has been shifted from the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat for next year’s general election.

The sitting MP has been replaced by Ram Baksh Singh Verma. A former Rajya Sabha MP from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr. Verma joined the SP recently.

Mr. Akhilesh Yadav is likely to contest from a “safe” seat in the close proximity of Etawah, the home district of the Samajwadi president.

Mr. Verma’s candidature was announced by the acting president of the state unit of SP, Shivpal Singh Yadav, here on Monday. His nomination is the first name formally announced by the party.

Mr. Verma, who belongs to the Kurmi backward caste, has been assigned the responsibility of retaining the Kannauj seat.

Mr. Akhilesh Yadav has twice been MP from the constituency in central Uttar Pradesh, about 75 km from Kanpur. He won from Kannauj in 2004 having earlier won a by-election from the constituency.

Though his candidature has not been announced, party sources claimed that he is likely to be fielded from Firozabad, a reserved seat till the 2004 elections. Firozabad has been declared a general seat by the Delimitation Commission of India. Next year’s Lok Sabha elections would be held in accordance with the recommendations of the Commission.

Situated next to Etawah, Firozabad is a Yadav-dominated seat where the Muslim voters also constitute a sizeable section of the electorate.

Ramji Lal Suman of the SP is the sitting MP from Firozabad. He is likely to be shifted to Agra, which has been declared a reserved constituency. Agra is now represented by Samajwadi rebel and Jan Morcha president, Raj Babbar.

The sources said the list of the remaining candidates for the election is being prepared and is expected to be finalised in July.

Start afresh

Following the recommendation of the Delimitation Commission, the Samajwadi Party would have to start afresh to find a suitable replacement for their sitting MPs.

Included in this category are Agra and Bahraich, which too has been declared reserved. The seat was won by Rubaiya Sayeed in 2004. Similar is the status of Etawah, a general seat till the last elections.

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