BSP chief Mayawati in ‘name-dropping’ race with Mulayam Singh Yadav

LUCKNOW: Even as they prop up the shaky UPA government at the Centre, rival UP chieftains, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati, are prepared for snap polls. Both SP and BSP have already declared a majority of the candidates, while the big two — Congress and BJP — are yet to get their house in order.

First off the mark in November with a list of 55, Yadav-led SP has now declared candidates in 71 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats. Among important persons in the fray are Mulayam from Mainpuri, son Akhilesh’s wife Dimple from Kannauj and nephew Dharmendra from Badayun. Then there is Mulayam’s cousin and SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav’s son Akshay from Firozabad.

Other notables are former aide of Union minister Ajit Singh, Anuradha Chowdhry, from Bijnore, former TADA accused Brij Bhushan Singh from Kaiserganj and notorious criminal-turned-politician Arun Shankar Shukla “Anna” from Unnao.

SP has not yet decided a candidate in Rampur, the stronghold of the party’s Muslim face and senior minister Azam Khan, which is currently represented by SP rebel Jaya Prada. BSP chief Mayawati has also decided candidates in about 75 seats though no official announcement has been made yet. Senior party leaders have instead, on instructions of Mayawati, announced the names at districts levels and candidates have put up their posters and started campaigning. Among the names that have been given the go-ahead are senior BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui’s son Afzal from Fatehpur, Brijesh Pathak from Unnao and leader of opposition Swami Prasad Maurya’s daughter Dr Sangh Mitra from Mainpuri against Mulayam Singh Yadav.