UP Elections 2022: Akhilesh Yadav set to contest from Mainpuri’s Karhal seat
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav is likely to contest the upcoming election from Karhal seat in Mainpuri district, news agency ANI reported citing party sources. Karhal seat goes to polls in the third phase on February 20. Akhilesh Yadav, who has never contested an assembly election in his political career so far, is the sitting MP from Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency. When he became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2012, he was sent to the house through the legislative council.
He was first elected to the 13th Lok Sabha from Kannauj in a by-election in 2000. Yadav was re-elected to the 14th Lok Sabha for a second term in 2004. He was again elected to the 15th Lok Sabha for the third term in 2009. In May 2012, he resigned from the 15th Lok Sabha and became a member of the UP Legislative Council and CM of the state. In 2017, when the BJP won the UP election, Yadav remained a member of the state’s upper house and later in 2019, was re-elected to the Lok Sabha for the fourth term.
The report comes amid speculation around Akhilesh Yadav’s decision to contest the Assembly elections this time. It was also reported that he may contest the UP polls from either of the Mainpuri Sadar, Chhibramau in Kannauj, Gopalpur in Azamgarh or Gunnaur assembly seat in Sambhal. The Karhal seat is currently represented by Sobaran Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party. The Karhal assembly constituency has been traditionally held by the SP since 1993 except for one instance when the BJP bagged it in 2022.
Yesterday, Akhilesh Yadav had said that he will ask the people of Azamgarh for permission to contest the UP polls as they had elected him as an MP from the seat.
UP Elections will be held in seven phases – February 10, February 14, February 20, February 23, February 27, March 3, and March 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.