'They can't come out of dynastic politics': BJP after SP fields Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple for Mainpuri bypoll

New Delhi: As Samajwadi Party (SP) on Thursday (November 10, 2022) announced the name of party chief Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav as its candidate for the Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypoll in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that "they can't come out of dynastic politics". 

"What else could you expect from the SP, which only gives preference to its family," BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said.

He added that the people of Mainpuri will this time elect a BJP MP seeing good work under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

The bypoll on the Mainpuri parliamentary seat, which fell vacant after the death of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, will be conducted on December 5 and the result will be declared on December 8.

In 2019, SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav won the seat by a margin of more than 94 thousand votes over his nearest rival BJP's Prem Singh Shakya.

Meanwhile, Dimple Yadav's candidature is seen as the SP's efforts to carry forward the legacy of her father-in-law on the seat, considered a stronghold of the party since 1996. Her selection is also seen as an attempt to unite party cadres ahead of the bypoll. The declaration of Dimple Yadav's candidature has also put a tough challenge to the BJP which is yet to announce its candidate for the seat.

समाजवादी पार्टी द्वारा लोकसभा क्षेत्र मैनपुरी उपचुनाव - 2022 हेतु श्रीमती डिंपल यादव पूर्व सांसद को प्रत्याशी घोषित किया गया है। pic.twitter.com/gZIvtETfLT — Samajwadi Party (@samajwadiparty) November 10, 2022

Earlier in 2019, she had lost the Lok Sabha elections to BJP candidate Subrat Pathak from Kannauj. Dimple Yadav was elected unopposed from the Kannauj constituency to the Lok Sabha in 2012 after Akhilesh became the chief minister and resigned from the seat to enter the Uttar Pradesh legislative council.

Akhilesh's Karhal assembly seat is also part of the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency and so is Jaswant Nagar represented by Shivpal Yadav.

As per reports, Yadavs account for about 35 per cent of the total 12.13 lakh voters in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency while the rest include Shakyas, Thakurs, Brahmins, Scheduled Castes and Muslims.

Mainpuri parliamentary constituency has five assembly segments, including Mainpuri, Bhogaon, Kishni, Karhal and Jaswant Nagar. While SP won three seats, BJP got two in the 2022 Assembly polls.

(With agency inputs)