In,out,in,out: SP tweaks final list,changes 7 nominees

The SP also changed candidates in six other constituencies. Nitin Agarwal,the sitting BSP MLA from Hardoi and son of former minister Naresh Agarwal,who joined the party on Friday,has been fielded from Hardoi.

Similarly,Rajeshwari Devi,the sitting BSP MLA from Gopamau constituency of Hardoi who had joined the SP with Agarwal,has been fielded from Sandi constituency of Hardoi. Thakur Sunil Singh,who was earlier district president of the RLD from Bulandshaher and had joined the SP along with Agarwal,has been fielded from Syana constituency of Bulandshaher. Dr Vikram has been fielded from Aonla,Bareilly,while Ram Nihor Yadav has been fielded from Obra,Sonbhadra,and M Chandra has been fielded from Dhanaura constituency of JP Nagar.

On changing the final list,SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said: “Recently,Naresh Agarwal joined the party along with Nitin and Rajeshwari Devi,two sitting MLAs,and we had to accommodate them. Hence,the revision of the list.”

As for Mankapur constituency,sources said it was a fall-out of the tussle between former MP and member of Mankapur’s royal family Raja Anand Singh and his long-time rival,sitting MP of Kaiserganj Brijbhushan Sharan Singh. Ramvishun Azad was the original nominee from the Mankapur reserved constituency,but on Raja’s insistence he was replaced with Babu Lal Kori while Raja himself was named for Gaura. But Brijbhushan got Kori replaced with Paltu Ram. In the latest round,Kori is back after Raja had threatened to join the Congress,as per sources.

Four-time MP from Gonda,Raja had left the SP to join the BSP just before the 2009 Lok Sabha election. His son Kirti Vardhan Singh,a two-time MP from Gonda,had fought the 2009 election as a BSP candidate,but lost to the Congress’s Beni Prasad Verma.

The father-son duo joined the SP in August on the condition that Raja’s men would be chosen to contest from Mankapur,which is his home but a reserved constituency,and Gaura,a new constituency more than half of whose area was in Mankapur constituency before delimitation.

In Utraula constituency in Balrampur,Raja got Arif Anwar Hashmi,sitting MLA from Sadullanagar which ceased to exist after delimitation,replaced with Dr Umar.