Akhilesh to make debut in state polls from Karhal seat in SP stronghold of Mainpuri

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will contest the Uttar Pradesh election from the Karhal constituency in Mainpuri district, his first assembly poll as a candidate.The party president will contest from Karhal seat of Mainpuri, SP national spokesperson Ashutosh Verma told PTI Thursday.Yadav, who is an MP from Azamgarh seat, had said on Wednesday that he would decide on contesting the Uttar Pradesh polls after talking to the people of his parliamentary constituency.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will contest the Uttar Pradesh election from the Karhal constituency in Mainpuri district, his first assembly poll as a candidate.

''The party president will contest from Karhal seat of Mainpuri,'' SP national spokesperson Ashutosh Verma told PTI Thursday.

Yadav, who is an MP from Azamgarh seat, had said on Wednesday that he would decide on contesting the Uttar Pradesh polls after talking to the people of his parliamentary constituency. The Samajwadi Party's Mainpuri district unit Thursday gave a written request to the party chief to contest from the Karhal seat and he agreed, sources said.

Mainpuri has traditionally been a Samajwadi Party stronghold. SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav represents the Mainpuri constituency in parliament. In 2017 assembly polls, SP candidate Sobran Yadav had secured 1.04 lakh votes from Karhal, defeating the BJP's Prem Shakya by 38,405 votes.

Reacting to the development, the BJP said it's a ''misconception'' of the SP chief that Mainpuri is a ''safe seat'' for him. ''And we will clear it,'' BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said. ''In Lok Sabha polls, his father Mulayam Singh Yadav could somehow win after the appeal of BSP chief Mayawati. This time, the BJP will puncture his cycle in Karhal (Mainpuri) so that he could not take expressway to reach Lucknow,'' Tripathi said.

The Karhal seat goes to polls on February 20, the third phase of voting.

This is going to be Yadav's first assembly election as a candidate. When he was the chief minister between 2012 and 17, he had taken the Legislative Council route.

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