- Monday, May 06, 2024
Subrat Pathak, who defeated Akhilesh’ wife Dimple Yadav in the 2019 elections, said Akhilesh Yadav was a more worthy opponent that he would take on in the election.
By: Twinkle Roy
AKHILESH YDAV, former chief minister of the north western Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a key face of India’s opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), has filed his nomination from the constituency of Kannauj, a seat he had previously represented in the Lok Sabha or Lower House of the Indian parliament, on Thursday (25). Akhilesh is the chief of the Samajwadi Party, a major player in Uttar Pradesh politics.
The development was mocked by the constituency’s sitting MP Subrat Pathak of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and called the contest has now become a cricket match between arch-rivals India and Pakistan.
Pathak, a first-time MP, defeated Akhilesh’s wife Dimple Yadav by over 12,000 votes, avenging the defeat he had suffered against the same opponent in 2014 by nearly 20,000 ballots.
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Former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav filed his nomination from the constituency of Kannauj on Thursday (25).
“In a democracy, the election is the biggest festival. When elections are held they should be interesting…When Akhilesh Yadav sent Tej Pratap here he understood…If the match had been with Tej Pratap it would have been India vs Japan’s cricket match. Now the match would be like India vs Pakistan (Subrat Pathak against Akhilesh Yadav),” Pathak said.
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Earlier, Akhilesh’s nephew Tej Pratap Singh Yadav was announced by the Samajwadi Party as the candidate from Kannauj but the decision was changed later, reportedly under pressure of local functionaries of the party.
Kannauj was once a bastion of the Samajwadi Party which won successive national elections there between 1998 and 2014 when it was lost to the BJP in the Narendra Modi wave.
On Wednesday (24), the party announced the name of the new candidate on X in Hindi, saying, “National president Akhilesh Yadav will file his nomination papers from the Kannauj lok sabha seat at 12 pm tomorrow as Samajwadi Party candidate.”
Senior leader of the Samajwadi Party, Ram Gopal Yadav, reacted to Pathak’s “India-Pakistan” remark saying the opponent candidate was a lunatic.
“He should be sent to a lunatic asylum as crazy people cannot fight the election,” said one report.
Akhilesh had won parliamentary elections from Kannauj thrice in the past — 2000, 2004, and 2009. In 2012, he gave up the seat after becoming the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and Dimple Yadav succeeded him.
Akhilesh is currently a member of Uttar Pradesh’s Karhal assembly constituency.
(with inputs from PTI & ANI)
