The Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh has released its third list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, unveiling five contenders on February 20. In a strategic move, Shivpal Yadav has replaced Dharmendra Yadav in the Badaun constituency. The party's latest list includes prominent names like Iqra Hassan from Kairana, Praveen Singh Aron from Bareilly, Surendra Singh Patel from Varanasi, and Ajendra Singh Rajput from Hamirpur.
This development comes after the party's earlier release of an 11-candidate list for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Afzal Ansari, brother of the notorious gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, has been nominated from the Ghazipur constituency. So far, the SP has declared a total of 31 candidates for the upcoming polls.
Afzal Ansari faced disqualification as a Lok Sabha member representing Ghazipur on May 1, 2023. The disqualification followed his conviction by the Court of Additional Sessions Judge, MP/MLA Court, Ghazipur, and a subsequent four-year imprisonment under the Gangster Act.
From Muzaffarnagar, Harendra Singh Malik has been selected as the candidate for the Lok Sabha polls, while Ramesh Gautam and Virendra Singh are nominated from Bahraich and Chandauli, respectively. Other candidates announced include Neeraj Maurya from Aonla, Usha Verma from Hardoi, Rampal Rajvanshi from Misrikh, RK Chaudhary from Mohanlalganj, SP Singh Patel from Pratapgarh, and Shreya Verma from Gonda.
On January 30, the SP disclosed the names of 16 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Notable nominations from the party include Dimple Yadav, wife of former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who secured victory in the Mainpuri parliamentary by-election in December 2022. Other prominent figures include Shafiqur Rahman Barq from Sambhal and Ravidas Mehrotra from Lucknow.