Kannauj (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 25 : Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday filed his nomination from Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj Lok Sabha seat.
Samajwadi Party MP Ramgopal Yadav accompanied Akhilesh while filing his nomination.
Akhilesh Yadav served as Lok Sabha MP from 2000-2012. He resigned from the Kannauj parliamentary seat in 2012 after he became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
In 2017, his party was unable to form a government in UP and he submitted his resignation to the Governor. He was elected Lok Sabha MP in 2019 and went on to be elected to the UP Assembly in 2022.
Following the UP Assembly polls, Yadav resigned as Lok Sabha MP and retained his state assembly seat.
Voting on the Kannauj seat will be held in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha election on May 13.
Earlier, the party declared Tej Pratap Yadav, Akhilesh's nephew and son-in-law of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, as its candidate.
As per the seat agreement between the Samajwadi Party and Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Congress is contesting on 17 seats and the Samajwadi Party has the remaining 63 seats in the electorally crucial state.
Earlier today, Shivpal Singh Yadav exuded confidence in Akhilesh's victory from the Kannauj seat.
"He (Akhilesh) will win with a big majority. Earlier, Akhilesh Yadav and Dimple Yadav won that seat (Kannauj). And this time again, Akhilesh Yadav will win. Dimple will win from Mainpuri. Everyone knows that Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) used to fight from here and win," he said.
The INDIA bloc has recieved another shot in the arm with sources saying that the Gandhi siblings Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi will also enter the electoral arena in Uttar Pradesh. Priyanka Gandhi is likely to be named candidate from Sonia Gandhi's erstwhile seat Rae Bareli while Rahul Gandhi will once again contest against Union Minister Smriti Irani in Amethi.
In the 2019 general elections, the BJP emerged triumphant, securing 62 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, supplemented by two seats clinched by its ally Apna Dal (S). Mayawati's BSP managed to secure 10 seats, while Akhilesh Yadav's SP garnered five. Conversely, the Congress party secured only one seat.