Putting all speculation to rest over Mulayam Singh’s political future, the Samajwadi Party has fielded its founder-patron from the Mainpuri seat for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Mr. Singh had won the seat in 2014 only to vacate it as he decided to stay MP from Azamgarh, which he also won.
The SP gave a list of nine candidates on Friday, including three women and three Dalits.
In a bit of a surprise, the SP has fielded Dimple Yadav from Kannauj. There was speculation that Ms. Yadav, the sitting MP from the seat, would not contest this year and be replaced by her husband, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, as the party candidate from the constituency known for its perfumes and potatoes.
Speculation is rife about the seat from which Mr. Akhilesh is himself likely to contest. Sources said a section of MLAs from Purvanchal were appealing to him to contest from Azamgarh.
Along with Ms. Yadav, the names of two other women candidates were announced: Purvi Verma from Kheri and Usha Verma from Hardoi (reserved) seat.
Sharing a picture of the three women on Twitter, Mr. Yadav said:
“On the occasion of #InternationalWomensDay the Samajwadi Party reaffirms its commitment to equality for all and is proud to announce some of its women candidates for the #2019Election.”
The SP is contesting 37 out of 80 seats in UP as part of the alliance with the BSP and the RLD. The BSP gets 38 while the RLD has three, all in West UP.
Mr. Akhilesh’s cousin Dharmendra Yadav (sitting MP) will contest again from Baduan. Akshay Yadav, the son of Ram Gopal Yadav, SP general-secretary, will defend his seat Firozabad, which is also located in the bastion of the Yadav clan.
The other candidates are Kamlesh Katharia from Etawah, Bhailal Kol from Robertsganj in Sonbhadra and Shabbir Valmiki from Bahraich; all three are reserved seats.
Bahraich MP Savitri Bai Phule recently joined the Congress months after she quit the BJP and failed to join the SP.