Lucknow: Samajwadi Party rebel and head of Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia), Shivpal Yadav, will go head-to-head against his nephew Akshay Yadav in the Lok Sabha elections.
Shivpal, whose party announced the first list of 30 candidates on Tuesday, will contest from the Firozabad seat, which has been a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party.
Akshay Yadav is the sitting MP from the seat, which has been won five times by the SP since 1999.
The Congress, which won the by-election from Firozabad in 2009 after Akhilesh Yadav vacated the seat, has decided to not contest from here this time around.
Shivpal Yadav, who is still a Samajwadi Party MLA from Jaswantnagar seat, had formed a separate political outfit ‘Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party’ after he alleged that he was not getting due ‘respect’ in the party.
Yadav had formed a breakaway faction, 'Samajwadi Secular Morcha (SSM)' following a rift between him and his nephew Akhilesh Yadav.
The rebel SP leader’s decision to contest from Firozabad constituency will create hurdles for Akshay Yadav, who is the son of Shivpal’s estranged brother – SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav.
During the Yadav family feud in 2016, Ram Gopal had sided with Akhilesh Yadav. Shivpal Yadav is believed to have an influence in Firozabad and its adjoining districts and is capable of giving a tough fight to the incumbent MP.
Shivpal Yadav’s party PSPL has fielded six Mulim and six Yadav candidates for the Lok Sabha Polls as it looks to cut the SP-BSP alliance votes.
Earlier today, in a joint press conference with Peace Party chief Dr Ayub, Shivpal Yadav announced the alliance for upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha Polls. The Peace party is said to have a good voter base in constituencies like Siddharthnagar and Santkabirnagar and might create a divide in the votes resulting in a problem for the SP-BSP alliance.
As per sources, Shivpal Yadav's party PSPL may also field two candidates in Tamil Nadu and two candidates in Karnataka.
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