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Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav is leading the Kannauj seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by a vote margin of 117,946. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate is trailing from Kannauj, the latest data by the Election Commission shows.
In the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s Subrat Pathak, SP leader and former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Imran Bin Zafar are the main contenders this time.
Kannauj Lok Sabha constituency
The 2024 Lok Sabha election in Kannauj is poised to be a pivotal moment in Uttar Pradesh’s political landscape, with the outcome carrying significant implications for the constituency’s future trajectory.
Having been a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party since 1998, the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat saw a shift in dynamics in 2019 when the BJP breached its stronghold. Subrat Pathak clinched victory with a narrow margin of around 12,000 votes, defeating Dimple Yadav, wife of Akhilesh Yadav.
Historically, Kannauj has been a bastion for the SP, dating back to the late 1960s when Ram Manohar Lohia secured the seat under the Samyukta Socialist Party.
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The constituency has been a traditional SP seat for decades. In 1967, Ram Manohar Lohia won the election under the banner of the Samyukta Socialist Party, following which the Janata Party held the seat twice.
The seat then went to the SP and became their traditional seat due to the strategy of Akhilesh’s father and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Akhilesh Yadav himself has represented the Kannauj constituency, a position formerly held by his father, on three occasions. He held the seat from the year 2000 to 2012, vacating it upon assuming the role of chief minister.
Following his departure, his wife Dimple Yadav, won the seat uncontested in a by-election and retained it in 2014, only to lose it to Subrat Pathak in 2019.
After much suspense, Akhilesh Yadav filed his nomination just before the deadline, aiming to regain SP’s traditional strongholds from the BJP, which has significantly expanded its influence over the past decade.
The BJP secured victories in the Firozabad, Badaun, and Kannauj seats during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, whereas the late Mulayam Singh Yadav won the Manipuri seat. Dimple Yadav later won the Mainpuri by-polls.
Akhilesh Yadav’s family contesting five seats in Uttar Pradesh
Incumbent MP Dimple Yadav is leading in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency with a vote margin of 220,932. Trailing behind her is BJP candidate Jayveer Singh.
Besides the SP couple, other members of the Yadav family contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are Dharmendra Yadav from Azamgarh, Akshaya Yadav from Firozabad, and Aditya Yadav from Budaun.
Dharmendra, Akhilesh’s cousin, is contesting the polls to snatch the Azamgarh seat from incumbent BJP MP and singer Dinesh Lal Yadav, popularly known as Nirauha. Dharmendra is leading by a vote margin of 112,594.
