Samajwadi Party announces first list of candidates for Lok Sabha, 50% seats go to the family

With Lok Sabha elections round the corner, the parties have started releasing lists of candidates in various states. Congress announced its first list of 11 candidates for Uttar Pradesh and four seats in Gujarat. Samajwadi party did the same a day later for the state of UP. The Lok Sabha elections are expected to be held in the months of April and May.

Earlier, Samajwadi Party (SP) led by Akhilesh Yadav announced an alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the Lok Sabha elections. However, the alliance would not field candidates on seats like Amethi and Rae Bareli. Currently, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi hold Amethi and Rae Bareli seats respectively. Moreover, the initial list of 6 SP candidates is replete with their ideology of dynastic politics. Party founder and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav will contest from Mainpuri seat. Samajwadi Party MP and Yadav’s nephew Dharmendra Yadav will contest from Badaun, while Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav’s son, Akshay Yadav, will contest from Firozabad. The sitting MP from Badaun, Dharmendra’s candidature has brought an end to all speculations of any possible induction of Congress party into the SP-BSP alliance beyond Rae Bareilly and Amethi. Akshay Yadav is all set to compete against party president Akhilesh Yadav’s estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav who has recently floated his new outfit Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party – Lohia (PSP-L) and has announced that he will contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Ferozabad parliamentary constituency. The party has also announced names of Kamlesh Katheriya, Bhailal Kol and Shabbir Valmiki as candidates from Etawah, Roberstganj and Bahraich reserved constituencies respectively.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is currently an MP from Azamgarh got elected from the Mainpuri seat in 1996, 2004 and 2009. In 2014, he contested from Azamgarh and Mainpuri and won both the seats. Mainpuri is thus considered a “safe seat” for the party patriarch. Moreover, in February, Mulayam Singh Yadav praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the last day of the 16th Lok Sabha. “I want to congratulate the prime minister that he tried to move ahead taking everyone along,” he said. “I hope all members to win and return, and you [Modi] become prime minister again”, the SP leader added.

What is interesting to note here is that half of the candidates announced belong to the Mulayam Singh Yadav family. Earlier, Akhilesh Yadav succeeded his father Mulayam Singh as chief minister of UP. He became the youngest chief minister in the history of the country with no administrative experience and it became possible only because his father was the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. It is strange to note herein that Mulayam Singh could not find candidates more suitable and qualified in the entire state apart from his own family members.

The precedence of dynastic politics has been set by non-other than the Grand Old Party. If this continues, India’s democracy will soon be under threat and we may as well head towards monarchy.