Today in Politics: Amid SP flip-flop, Akhilesh throws his hat in LS poll ring, to file nomination from Kannauj

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav is going to file his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha election from the Kannauj constituency in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, a day after the party replaced Tej Pratap Yadav with Akhilesh as its candidate from the seat.

In a flip-flop, the SP announced Wednesday that Akhilesh will file his nomination papers from Kannauj on Thursday — the last date for filing nominations for the seat which goes to polls in the fourth phase on May 13.

When asked whether the SP workers in Kannauj wanted him to contest from the seat, Akhilesh said, “The question here is of historic victory from the seat. The BJP will become history in this election as people have made up their mind for INDIA bloc. People are going to vote against the NDA.”

In context: On Monday, the SP had declared Akhilesh’s nephew Tej Pratap, 36, as its candidate from Kannauj despite the buzz over the SP chief’s move to contest from there.

The SP had then said that Akhilesh had “larger responsibilities” of taking care of the party organisation during the Lok Sabha elections.

However, SP sources said that after two days of convincing by Kannauj’s party brass, the SP chief “made up his mind to contest” the seat, as Asad Rehman reports.

“The SP leadership wants Akhilesh ji to contest because that will help the party not just in Kannauj but also in neighbouring Lok Sabha constituencies. It will galvanise the party cadre and supporters,” said a senior SP leader.

Tej Pratap is the maternal grandson of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s elder brother Ratan Singh Yadav and son-in-law of RJD chief Lalu Prasad. He was the SP MP from Mainpuri during 2014-2019.

Kannauj has been the SP first family’s traditional bastion – the party has won the seat six times since