Willing to re-contest if disqualified: Shivpal

■ KANPUR: :President of the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL) Shivpal Singh Yadav on Wednesday said that he is ready to seek re-election form his Jaswantnagar assembly seat if he is disqualified from the assembly.

“I have already resigned from Samajwadi Party. The final decision rests with the Speaker of the assembly. If the speaker rules against me, I will go back to the people of Jaswant Nagar for their mandate. It will not matter to me if SP fields a candidate against me,” he told reporters in Etawah on Wednesday.

The Samajwadi Party (SP), last week, filed a petition before the Speaker seeking the disqualification of Shivpal’s membership from the state assembly under the anti-defection law.

Shivpal Yadav had quit the Samajwadi Party last year. In August 2018, he first formed the Samajwadi Secular Morcha (SSM) and then registered a political party--Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L) — two months later. His party contested the Lok Sabha polls across the state.

Replying to a question, Shivpal said that if he contests a by-election in event of his disqualification, Mulayam Singh Yadav should campaign for him. “I had campaigned for Netaji despite my differences with SP and he should also reciprocate,” Shivpal said.

› I have already resigned from SP. The final decision rests with the speaker of the assembly. If the speaker rules against me, I will go back to the people of Jaswant Nagar for their mandate. SHIVPAL YADAV, PSP-L chief

ANI ■ Members of Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party take out a mock funeral procession of inflation during their protest against the rising electricity unit rate, illegal recovery during vehicle checking by police and new traffic fines, n Lucknow on Wednesday.