Nomination closes today, SP yet to pick candidate in Rampur

ONE DAY to go for nominations for the first phase of LS elections to close, the SP is yet to announce a candidate for Rampur seat, which used to be the turf of its senior leader Azam Khan. On Tuesday evening, SP’S Rampur unit released a letter saying it was “boycotting” the elections.

Khan is jailed since October 2023 following conviction in a case of forgery, disqualifying him fromcontestingtheelections.last week, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav visited him in jail. SP sources said at the meeting, Khan requested Akhilesh himself contest from Rampur, citing “special circumstances” in the constituency.

However, till late Tuesday, the SP had no candidate in Rampur.

SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said the matter was not over, and that the call for the party unit to boycott the polls in

Rampur was just a “suggestion”. “The final decision will be taken by the party national president (Akhilesh),” Chaudhary said.

He added while there was no question of Akhilesh contesting from Rampur, the SP would have acandidateinfraybywednesday.

Thebjphasrenominatedfrom the seat Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi, who won a bypoll to the Rampur LS seat in June 2022 and is the sitting MP. Lodhi is scheduled to file his nomination on Wednesday.

For decades, Azam Khan has been the SP'S Rampur face, and theonewhotookthecallonparty candidates for the constituency and its adjoining seats. In his letter, SP Rampur district president Ajaysagarsaid:“wefeltitwasimportant for the SP national presidenttocometorampurtochange this atmosphere. Who can forget what happened in the past two by-elections (for the Rampur Lok Sabha and Assembly seats)?”