Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav Files Nomination from Kannauj

Samajwadi Party President, Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday filed his nomination from the Kannauj constituency in Uttar Pradesh. This comes after the party replaced Tej Pratap Yadav as its candidate from the seat just a day earlier. Kannauj is set to go to the polls on May 13.

After filing his nomination, Yadav expressed confidence in securing victory and defeating the NDA. "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 INDIA bloc. People are going to vote against the NDA," said the Samajwadi Party President.

The SP's decision to field Akhilesh Yadav from Kannauj has been approved by party workers, who believe that he will win by a significant margin. This move is seen as the beginning of a battle to remove the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Uttar Pradesh.

Akhilesh's nomination comes shortly after Tej Pratap Yadav was initially declared as the party's candidate for Kannauj. However, reports surfaced of local party units urging Akhilesh to reconsider this decision, expressing concerns that without him, the BJP would have an advantage.

Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, the grand-nephew of the late Mulayam Singh Yadav and the son-in-law of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, previously represented the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat from 2014 to 2019. Kannauj, known as an SP stronghold, will hold elections in the fourth phase on May 13.

The Kannauj Lok Sabha seat holds significance for the SP, as Akhilesh Yadav began his political journey there and has won the seat three times consecutively in 2000 (by-election), 2004, and 2009. While his wife, Dimple Yadav, won the seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP reclaimed it in 2019.​