Samajwadi Party announces first list of 6 candidates for Lok Sabha election; Mulayam Singh Yadav to contest from Mainpuri

A total number of six candidates have been named in the first list released by the SP.

ANI photo

Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party on Friday declared its first list for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. A total number of six candidates have been named in the first list.

Senior Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav will contest from Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency.

In addition to Mulayam Singh Yadav, SP will also field family members of Mulayam Singh Yadav like nephew Dharmendra Yadav from Badaun and his brother and senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav's son Akshay Yadav from Firozabad. 

Samajwadi Party's decision to release its first list comes after the Congress released its first list for Lok Sabha polls on Thursday that included contenders for 11 seats in UP, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi from their respective constituencies of Rae Bareli and Amethi.

The first list of six candidates of the Samajwadi Party also includes Kamlesh Katheria from Etahwah, Shabbir Valmiki from Behraich and Bhai Lal from Robertsganj. The party is also likely to release the second list of candidates later in the day.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in multiple interviews repeatedly stressed that opposition unity was intact and that the Congress continued to be part of their (SP-BSP) alliance with an allotment of two seats. 

However, this statement seemed contrary to Congress' designs in Uttar Pradesh after the party released its first list of Lok Sabha candidates on Thursday that included 11 contenders from UP alone.

(With inputs from ANI)