Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Thursday released its second list of 56 candidates for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Alongside SP, the Bahujan Samaj party (BSP) too released its list of 53 candidates for the third phase of UP elections on Thursday, hitting the electoral fray with full force.
The list of Samajwadi Party features senior leaders such as Ram Achal Rajbhar, Lalji Verma, former Bahujan Samajwadi Party leader Rakesh Pandey, among others. In Purvanchal (eastern Uttar Pradesh), the party has provided candidature to Vinay Shankar Tiwari, the son of major Brahmin leader Harishankar Tiwari.
From Dhaurehra in Lakhimpur district, the party has fielded Varun Chaudhary. It has fielded Dawood Ahmed from Mohammedi, and Padam Raj Singh from Sawajipur in Hardoi. Rakesh Verma, the son of former minister Beni Prasad Verma, has been given candidature from the Barabanki constituency.
Significantly, in crucial seats such as Gosaiganj in Faizabad and Ambedkar Nagar's Katehri, the party has given candidature to the likes of Abhay Singh and former BSP leader Lalji Verma. In Jalalpur, the party had fielded former BSP minister Rakesh Pandey. Former minister Ram Achal Rajbhar, similarly, has been fielded from Akbarpur.
Major OBC face in the state and one among many in the recent OBC exodus from BJP into SP, former minister Dara Singh Chauhan has been fielded from the Mau Ghosi seat. Senior SP leader and former minister Om Prakash Singh, on the other hand, has been given candidature from the Zamania seat under Ghazipur district.
BSP fields Kaka from Hathras
The party has fielded Sanjeev Kumar Kaka from Hathras, Dr Arvind Sharma from Sadabad, Thakur Awadhesh Kumar Singh from Sikandrau and Amar Singh Jatav from the Tundla constituency.
The party has also fielded Gaurav Nand Savita in Mainpuri, Samarjit Singh Dohre in Kannauj, Kuldep Gupta in Etawah as well as Mohd Safi Khan in Kanpur Cantonment.
Also read: RLD president Jayant Singh snubs BJP offer, reminds farmers' deaths
