Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh): The Prayagraj unit of the Samajwadi Party (SP) has described it as a 'mere rumour', the reports that actor Abhishek Bachchan, son of megastar Amitabh Bachchan, could contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as a SP candidate from Prayagraj constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
Abhishek's father Amitabh Bachchan, popularly known as 'Big B' had won from the then Allahabad Lok Sabha constituency in 1984 after defeating then Lok Dal leader Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna by a whooping margin of 1,09,000 votes. Amitabh Bachchan contested from this seat with a Congress ticket at the behest of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Abhishek's mother and actress Jaya Bachchan is a Rajya Sabha MP from the Samajwadi Party.
Also read: Abhishek Bachchan may contest Lok Sabha elections from Allahabad, Big B won the seat in 1984
“There has been no recommendation from our end in this connection,” a party office-bearer was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.
Samajwadi Party Prayagraj president Syed Iftikhar Hussain said, “It is for the national president of the party, Akhilesh Yadav, to decide who would be fielded from the political hot-seat. Although a section of the media has reported that Abhishek Bachchan would be fielded from Prayagraj in the next general election, no such recommendation was made by us. The news is totally speculative."
He added that the party is preparing for the 2024 General Elections and it is too early to finalise any name. “Whoever will be our candidate, will win the seat,” he said. Former Samajwadi Party Prayagraj district president Yogesh Chandra Yadav too denied reports of Abhishek Bachchan contesting from the Prayagraj Lok Sabha constituency.
“A couple of months back someone had floated the name of Jaya Bachchan as the SP candidate from Prayagraj, and now her son’s name is doing the rounds. This is too immature an issue to deserve comment,” Yogesh Chandra Yadav said.
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