SP plays safe,keeps options open

Besides,it has fielded weak and nondescript candidates against RLD Chief Ajit Singh and RLD general secretary Anuradha Chowdhury,who are contesting from Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar respectively.

The SP candidate from Muzaffarnagar,Sangeet Som,was earlier with the Bahujan Samaj Party,where he did not get a ticket. Similarly,the SP candidate in Baghpat is the former MLA Sahab Singh.

Acting state president of SP Shivpal Singh denied that they were trying to help Rajnath Singh and RLD candidates. “SP candidates in Ghaziabad and Mathura will benefit the BJP,but if the fight is between the Congress and the BJP,the Congress will take lead,” he said.

But the party has fielded its candidates in other constituencies where the Congress has sitting MPs. In Varanasi,it has fielded Ajay Rai against Congress’s Rajesh Mishra, and in Bansgaon,it has placed Sharda Devi against Mahaveer Prasad.

Notwithstanding the virtual breakdown of talks with the Congress, the SP is not fielding candidates in Rae Bareli and Amethi,the constituencies of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress parliamentarian Rahul Gandhi. Obviously,the SP does not want to burn its bridges with the Congress.

In return, the Congress will not contest from Mainpuri and Kannauj,the Lok Sabha seats of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his MP son Akhilesh Yadav,who is also contesting from Ferozabad.

The SP has not fielded candidates against Shriprakash Jaiswal in Kanpur,Jitin Prasada in Dhaurahra and Jagdambika Pal in Dumariyaganj. 

The SP has declared its candidates on 71 seats in the state,leaving nine seats for ‘friendly fight’. These nine seats are Ghaziabad,Mathura,Dhaurahra,Kanpur,Rae Bareli,Amethi,Aligarh,Etah and Dumariyaganj. Party sources said Etah has been kept free for Kalyan Singh to contest as an Independent, while his son Rajvir may be announced as the SP candidate from Aligarh.

BJP releases four more names
New Delhi: The BJP on Monday came out with a list of four more candidates for Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh. The canidates are Gyan Tiwari (Sitapur),Y B Singh (Basti),Vijay Dubey (Kushinagar) and Raghavendra (Dhod Heda). The names were cleared by the Central Election Committee convened by party chief Rajnath Singh on March 6. With this,the total number of candidates announced by the BJP for UP so far has risen to 70.— PTI

Prasad resigns from SP
MLC Kunwar Jayesh Prasad resigned from the Samajwadi Party and joined the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party ton Monday. According to a BSP release,Jayesh met Chief Minister Mayawati on Sunday before taking the decision. Jayesh is cousin of Union Minister of state for Steel and Mines Jitin Prasad who is congress party candidate from Dhaurahara seat. — ENS