Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party (SP) has changed its candidates for two seats in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections, replacing its nominees for the Agra Graduates and Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers constituencies.
The party has now fielded Dr Akash Agarwal from the Agra Graduates constituency and Dr Sanjayan Tripathi from the Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers constituency. It had earlier nominated Shashank Yadav from Agra and Kamlesh Yadav from the Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers seat.
Why the Gorakhpur-Faizabad change matters
The change in the Gorakhpur-Faizabad constituency is politically significant because Tripathi was earlier seeking a BJP ticket for the election. The BJP, however, chose sitting MLC Dhruv Kumar Tripathi as its candidate.
After being denied the BJP ticket, Sanjayan Tripathi had announced that he would contest as an independent candidate and filed his nomination on October 2. His entry into the SP fold now changes the contest in the teachers’ constituency.
Elections for 11 Legislative Council seats in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled for October 23, and counting will take place on October 27.
Akhilesh Yadav steps up attack on BJP
The candidate changes come amid an intensifying political contest in the state ahead of the Assembly elections. Addressing party workers, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav stepped up his attack on the BJP. He claimed that the INDIA bloc had defeated the BJP in Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and asserted that the PDA would repeat the performance.
“2024 mein Samajwadi Party INDIA alliance ne BJP ko haraya hai. Is baar PDA ki taqat ke saamne BJP kahin nahi tik payegi,” he said.
Yadav said the SP’s PDA politics stood for “love, compassion and belonging” and claimed that the party stood with people who were distressed, oppressed and humiliated. He accused the BJP of humiliating and exploiting different sections of society and betraying them.
Focus on Gen Z and unemployment
The SP chief also tried to link the party’s campaign with the concerns of younger voters, particularly Generation Z. He alleged that unemployment was rising and that the younger generation was unhappy with the BJP.
“The new generation and Gen-Z do not have jobs and employment. Unemployment is increasing. The new generation is angry with the BJP,” Yadav said.
He further claimed that the BJP would not be able to match the development work carried out during previous SP governments and asserted that the party’s defeat in Uttar Pradesh was certain.
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