The BJP Wednesday named Prem Singh Shakya as its candidate for the Lok Sabha bye-election for the Mainpuri seat which was vacated by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The Samajwadi Party has fielded Tej Pratap Singh, another member of the ruling Yadav family.
Mainpuri goes to polls Sep 13.
Former legislator Ashok Chauhan was expected to be fielded from Mainpuri but the Bharatiya Janata Party state leadership opted for Shakya who is considered "non-controversial", and who represents the Shakya community which has a reckonable presence in the constituency.
"Mulayam Singh's prestige is at stake and the state government is leaving nothing to chance," a local BJP leader said.
Mulayam Singh had got 5,95,918 votes, defeating the BJP's Shatrughan Singh Chauhan who got 231,252, and the Bahujan Samaj Party's Sanghmitra Maurya who got 142,833 votes.
Mulayam Singh also won from Azamgarh and chose to represent that constituency in the Lok Sabha.
The Yadav community constitutes around 35 percent of the total 12.3 lakh voters in Mainpuri.
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