2024 LS polls: SP's Mahendra Nagar files nomination, becomes first candidate in Noida

Samajwadi Party's Mahendra Singh Nagar, who is representing the INDIA bloc, filed his nomination on Monday for the Lok Sabha election from Gautam Buddh Nagar in western Uttar Pradesh, becoming the first candidate here to do so, officials said.

Nagar filed the nomination papers before District Election Officer Manish Kumar Verma at the collectorate office in Surajpur, Greater Noida, a local official said.

Nagar, a practising MBBS doctor, has been fielded by the Samajwadi Party to take on BJP's Mahesh Sharma, also a doctor and the winner of Lok Sabha polls 2014 and 2019 from Gautam Buddh Nagar.

As the SP's candidate, Nagar is representing the INDIA bloc of opposition parties on the seat where the Congress is not putting up its candidate while the Bahujan Samaj Party, which is fighting it alone this time, has fielded Rajendra Singh Solanki.

Nagar was in the Congress till 2022.

''With the blessings of Baba sahib and with approval of Akhilesh Yadav ji, the Samajwadi Party and the INDIA bloc will put up a fight with full strength and in an unbiased manner to defeat this arrogant and oppressive government,'' Nagar said in a social media post after filing his nomination.

Earlier in the day, before filing the nomination papers, he met his supporters. He called on them to help the INDIA bloc and the Samajwadi Party get a big win in this election in order to save democratic values and rights of 'pichde, Dalit, alpsankhyak (PDA).

Meanwhile, the district election office on Monday evening said till date, a total of 44 nomination forms have been purchased by the candidates while nomination has been filed by only one candidate which is Nagar.

District Election Officer Manish Kumar Verma said the nomination process started on March 28 and will continue till April 4.

The date for scrutiny of nominations is April 5 and the last date for withdrawal is April 8, Verma said.

Gautam Buddh Nagar, which comprises the twin-cities of Noida and Greater Noida, goes to polls on April 26 in the second-leg of the general elections and has over 26 lakh registered voters. The election result is scheduled for June 4.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)