Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav will contest the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election from the Karhal constituency in Mainpuri district.

Yadav’s first assembly poll as a candidate will be from a constituency that his party has held for nine consecutive terms. Sitting MP and Samajwadi Party patriarch, Mulayam Singh Yadav, is representing it for the fifth time. 

The party has won every election in Karhal since 1993, except in 2002. It came back to power in the constituency in 2007 and is currently held by Sobaran Yadav.

For this reason, the Karhal constituency, just 5 km away from Yadav’s home village Saifai, has been considered a ‘safe bet’ for the party chief. Sources have said it would allow him time to campaign for other candidates of the party. 

BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi responded to the news of Yadav’s candidature, saying that it is his ‘misconception’ that this is a ‘safe seat’, which will be ‘cleared’ soon.

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“In the Lok Sabha polls, his father Mulayam Singh Yadav could somehow win after the appeal of BSP chief Mayawati. This time, the BJP will puncture his cycle in Karhal (Mainpuri) so that he could not take the expressway to reach Lucknow,” Tripathi said.

The Karhal seat goes to polls on February 20, the third phase of voting in the state.

Interestingly, Yadav isn’t the only big politician to be opting for his home turf to contest the election. 

Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Yogi Adityanath, the current Chief Minister of UP, will be fighting from Gorakhpur Urban constituency- again, his home turf.

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He was a five-time BJP MP from the constituency before he became CM in 2017. Adityanath’s candidature from Gorakhpur could have an impact on at least 50 assembly seats in the Purvanchal region, Livehindustan reported, citing BJP leaders.

Polling for Adityanath’s seat will be held on March 3, the penultimate phase of the election. There were reports that the Chief Minister could contest the polls from either of the two temple towns – Mathura or Ayodhya. 

Yogi Adityanath’s guru Mahant Avaidyanath had won five assembly elections from a seat in Gorakhpur. He represented the Maniram assembly constituency from the Gorakhpur district in 1962, 1967, 1969, 1974 and 1977, as Independent or Hindu Mahasabha’s or Janata Party’s candidate.

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State General Secretary of Uttar Pradesh Principal Council, Ravindra Tripathi, a resident of Gorakhpur told PTI, “Leave the matter of history. Yogi has given a new dimension to development in Gorakhpur and if he wins elections, there will be more development.”

Uttar Pradesh assembly elections will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.

(Witha agency inputs)