Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan said on Monday that Dimple Yadav, party president Akhilesh Yadav’s wife, will sweep the elections if she contests from Rampur in the assembly bypolls due later this year, leading to speculation that the former Kannauj MP may be fielded by the party.

The bypolls are likely to be announced in September. Eleven of the 12 seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha. In the other seat, Hamirpur, the sitting legislator was disqualified after his conviction in a murder case.

Khan was the Rampur MLA before he vacated the seat on being elected to the Lok Sabha from the Rampur parliamentary segment. Dimple Yadav lost from Kannauj in the Lok Sabha polls.

“If Dimple Yadavji contests from Rampur, she will sweep it [the election],” Khan said on Monday.

Asked if Dimple, 41, will be fielded from the Rampur assembly seat, another senior SP leader said, “This might be our sureshot chance to retain the seat… If she contests, we expect that the Congress may not put up a candidate against her. We also expect that, though Mayawatiji [of the Bahujan Samaj Party] has parted ways with the SP, she too might not field a candidate against Dimple.”

First Published: Jul 16, 2019 00:05 IST