For Dimple Yadav, Thursday’s early trends certainly brought much-needed relief. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s ‘elder daughter-in-law’ had the audacious task of carrying her father-in-law’s 26-year-old legacy on home turf Mainpuri For which the by-election was held on December 8 and the votes are being counted on Thursday.
The by-election in Mainpuri was necessitated after the death of the Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch in October. Early trends show that Dimple Yadav is leading over former BJP MP Raghuraj Singh Shakya by over 22,000 votes.
The bypoll marks the return of SP chief’s wife Dimple Yadav Akhilesh Yadav After three years in the political field. Dimple Yadav, who represented the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat as an MP from 2012 to 2019, did not contest the last Lok Sabha election in 2019 as Akhilesh Yadav said that he did not want to promote any dynastism in his party. Dimple’s name also did the rounds as a candidate from the Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat earlier this year after Akhilesh Yadav vacated the seat and retained his assembly seat of Karhal. Akhilesh Yadav’s cousin Dharmendra Yadav, however, contested from Azamgarh and faced a crushing defeat.
The easiest conclusion to draw from Akhilesh’s game plan to secure Mainpuri turf is that Dimple’s candidature will garner sympathy votes for the SP in light of the death of the patriarchy. Dimple is also Akhilesh’s best choice against Shivpal Yadav, his uncle, as contesting from Mainpuri against Mulayam’s ‘daughter-in-law’ will not be easy.
The caste equation in Mainpuri is also in favor of Dimple’s nomination. In Mainpuri, known for the classic Muslim-Yadav combination, the Shakya community and Thakur votes are also important. To capitalize on the mass base, SP has recently appointed Alok Shakya as the new Mainpuri District President. Given that Dimple was a Thakur by caste before marriage, it seems that the party has kept all the stakeholders in mind before chalking out its strategy.
After winning the seat by 3.64 lakh votes in 2014, the BJP narrowed its victory margin over Mulayam Singh Yadav in Mainpuri to just 94,000 votes in 2019.
The Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat has about 17.3 lakh voters, of whom about 40 per cent belong to the Yadav community, while 29 per cent include Rajputs, Chauhans, Bhadaurias and other upper castes. The remaining 30 percent of the population comprises Muslims and Dalits.
It was Mainpuri from where Mulayam Singh Yadav was first elected as MP in 1996. He successfully contested from this seat thrice- in 2004, 2009 and 2019. Tej Pratap had won this seat in the 2014 by-election.
While it is a battle of prestige for the Samajwadi Party, for Akhilesh’s estranged uncle Shivpal, winning the seat would be a seal of approval for Netaji’s political successor. Before Mulayam’s death, Shivpal had announced that he would contest from this seat if his brother did not contest. Many believe that if Shivpal wins, he will enter national politics and install his son Aditya Yadav in state politics. Aditya was recently made the state president of Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL), a political outfit founded by Shivpal.
Interestingly, Shivpal Yadav is the MLA from the Jaswant Nagar assembly seat, which is a part of the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, while Akhilesh Yadav is the MLA from Karhal, which is also a part of the Mainpuri parliamentary seat. Like Mainpuri, Kishni assembly seat is held by SP’s Barjesh Katheria, while two assembly seats – Bhogaon and Mainpuri Sadar – are held by BJP’s Ram Naresh Agnihotri and Jaiveer Singh. The heady mix promises to make the battle of Mainpuri more interesting.
While Dimple Yadav has given relief to the SP, BJP’s Akash Saxena is leading over SP candidate Aseem Raja in the party’s long-fought Rampur seat.
Saxena is the main complainant in the hate speech case against Azam Khan. He contested against Khan in the 2022 assembly elections, but was defeated by a margin of over 55,000 votes. Saxena, a well-known critic of the Khan family, had complained against Azam’s son Abdullah.
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