AMN \ LUCKNOW
Samajwadi Party today announced that party chief Akhilesh Yadav will contest the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election from Karhal constituency in Mainpuri district. Voting in Karhal is scheduled for February 20.
At present, Akhilesh Yadav is the Lok Sabha MP from Azamgarh constituency. He has never contested a state election. When he became the Uttar Pradesh chief minister in 2012, he took the Legislative Council route.
Earlier, speculation was rife that the Samajwadi Party leader may contest from Mainpuri Sadar, Chhibramau in Kannauj, Gopalpur in Azamgarh or Gunnaur in Sambhal. However, he will be fighting from Karhal constituency.
At present, Sobaran Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party is the Karhal MLA. The Samajwadi Party has won this seat seven times since 1993. In the 2002 election, the BJP had bagged Karhal.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath of the BJP will be contesting the election from Gorakhpur Urban. Chandra Shekhar Aazad of the Azad Samaj Party will also be contesting from the same seat.