Samajwadi Party announces list 16 candidates for Lok Sabha elections 2024

NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Tuesday announced the names of 16 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Among the candidates, Dimple Yadav, the wife of former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, will be contesting from Mainpuri. Shafiqur Rahman Barq will be representing the party from Sambhal, and Ravidas Mehrotra will be contesting from Lucknow.

Dimple Yadav, who won the Mainpuri parliamentary byelection in December last year, secured a victory by a significant margin of 2,88,461 votes, defeating Raghuraj Singh Shakya of the BJP. Mainpuri has long been considered a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party, previously held by party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. The seat became vacant after Mulayam Singh Yadav's demise on October 10.

Akshay Yadav has been fielded as the candidate from Firozabad, while Shivshakar Singh Patel will be representing the SP from Banda.

Shafiqur Rahman Barq, at the age of 93, is one of the oldest Parliamentarians and has been elected five times to the Lok Sabha from Sambhal.

"Hoga PDA ke naam, abki ekjut matdan," the SP said.

In the current Lok Sabha, the Samajwadi Party, which had formed an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 2019, holds three seats, while BSP has 10 seats. Sonia Gandhi, who represents the Rae Bareli seat, is the sole Congress MP from the state of Uttar Pradesh.