After several changes, SP’S Nagar files nomination from GB Nagar
Samajwadi Party’s Lok Sabha candidate from the Gautam Budh (GB) Nagar constituency, Mahendra Singh Nagar, on Monday filed his nomination papers and later asserted that along with the support of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, his party will defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming polls.
Nagar, whose candidature was only confirmed by the party after three rounds of changes, said SP would take up all issues faced by backward classes and minorities.
“It is time for us to reach out to the public and raise issues of unemployment and the farmers’ plight. If anyone claims that there is zero tolerance to corruption in UP, then I want to make it clear that it is not the case. Everyone knows what happened
when the electoral bonds details emerged,” Nagar told reports after filing his nomination at the collectorate office in Surajpur.
Nagar broke off his long partnership with the Congress to join the SP in 2022. Although he was the first pick for the seat when the first list of candidates were announced, four days later, he got replaced 38-year-old Rahul Awana. However, the SP top brass, on March 30 again changed its decision and named Nagar as its final pick.
Refuting allegations that repeated changes in candidacy were a result of an internal rife in the party, SP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhati said adjustments were made to pick the candidate best suited to take on nominees of other parties.
“After we declared Nagar as a candidate, the BSP announced their candidate, while the BJP announced their pick before us. We assessed the candidates of the other parties and worked out a name that would help us win the election. We finally decided that Nagar could add more value for us,” Bhati said.
In Uttar Pradesh, the SP has changed candidates in at least seven seats, including Gautam Budh Nagar, which goes to polls on April 26.
BJP has fielded its sitting MP Mahesh Sharma while the BSP has gone with 70-year-old Rajendra Singh Solanki, who has not contested an election since 1985, when he was a Congress MLA.