Akhilesh Yadav to contest UP polls from Karhal seat in party stronghold of Mainpuri

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will contest the 2022 Assembly Polls from Karhal constituency in Mainpuri district, the party's national spokesperson Ashutosh Verma said on Thursday.

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will contest the 2022 Assembly polls from Karhal constituency in Mainpuri district, the party's national spokesperson Ashutosh Verma said on Thursday.

Mainpuri is said to be a stronghold of Akhilesh's father Mulayam Singh Yadav since 1993, with only one exception. In the 2002 election, the seat went to the BJP. For now, the Karhal seat is currently held by SP MLA Sobaran Yadav.

The caste arithmetic on the Karhal seat, as per SP sources, is favorable for the party as it consists of around 1.5 lakh Yadav voters, which are considered the traditional vote bank of SP.

The seat also houses around 14,000 Muslims and 34,000 Shakya community voters making things more favorable for the Samajwadi Party supremo. Earlier, on Wednesday, there were speculations about Akhilesh Yadav may contest from the Gopalpur assembly seat of Azamgarh.

The announcement comes a day after UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya took a swipe at Akhilesh saying that the SP chief, who has been trying to put his sticker on the work done by the BJP government, is scared of contesting polls.

Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren may campaign for Akhilesh Yadav

As per the sources, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren is going to campaign for Akhilesh Yadav during the UP polls. However, no date has been revealed for this yet, but there are talks in the political arena of Hemant Soren campaigning for Akhilesh Yadav. Meanwhile, UP's SP leader Dr. Akram Ali said that we will welcome those who will fight against Modi policies and organize the country to oppose privatization and stop communal forces.

He further said, "Hemant ji is kind of leader whose presence in Uttar Pradesh will strengthen the SP."

In between all these, supporters of Akhilesh Yadav are performing Balangamukhi Mahayagya at UP's Vindhyachal to ensure Akhilesh Yadav's victory in UP polls.