SP candidate Dimple Yadav to file nomination for Mainpuri bypolls on Monday

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Samajwadi Party candidate for the Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypolls Dimple Yadav is likely to file her nomination papers on Monday, a senior party leader said.

The 44-year-old wife of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav will file her nomination at the Mainpuri collectorate on Monday afternoon, Alok Shakya, district president of the Samajwadi Party's Mainpuri district unit, told PTI.

Dimple Yadav's candidature is seen as the SP's efforts to carry forward the legacy of her father-in-law Mulayam Singh Yadav on the seat, considered a stronghold of the party since 1996. Her selection is also seen as an attempt to unite party cadres ahead of the bypoll.

The by-election for the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat is fixed for December 5 and the result will be declared on December 8.

Filing of nominations for the bypoll has started and November 17 is the last date for filing of nomination.

The Mainpuri parliamentary seat fell vacant following the demise of Mulayam Singh Yadav on October 10.

The BJP has not announced its candidate on the seat yet, while it is still not clear whether Congress, BSP and Shivpal Yadav's Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSPL) will contest the polls or not.

Dimple Yadav had lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 to BJP candidate Subrat Pathak from Kannauj.

In 2019, SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav won the seat by a margin of more than 94,000 votes over his nearest rival BJP's Prem Singh Shakya.

Akhilesh's Karhal assembly seat is part of Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency and so is Jaswant Nagar represented by Shivpal Yadav.

Dimple Yadav was elected unopposed from the Kannauj constituency to the Lok Sabha in 2012 after Akhilesh became the chief minister and resigned from the seat to enter the Uttar Pradesh legislative council.

Yadavs account for about 35 per cent of the total 12.13 lakh voters in Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency while the rest include Shakyas, Thakurs, Brahmins, Scheduled Castes and Muslims.

Mainpuri parliamentary constituency has five assembly segments, including Mainpuri, Bhogaon, Kishni, Karhal and Jaswant Nagar. While the SP won three seats (Karhal, Kishni and Jaswantnagar), BJP got two seats (Mainpuri and Bhogaon) in the 2022 assembly elections.