Samajwadi Party names candidates for Phulpur, Allahabad

The Samajwadi Party on Saturday named Pandhari Yadav as its candidate from the Phulpur parliamentary constituency. Pandhari Yadav is a former district President of the Samajwadi Party (SP).

The Phulpur Lok Sabha seat was won by former Prime Minister late Jawaharlal Nehru in 1952, 1957 and 1962. 

The Samajwadi Party, which wrested the seat from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in last year's by-election, has denied ticket to its sitting MP Nagendra Singh Patel. 

The Congress is yet to name its candidate from Phulpur, while the BJP has fielded Kesri Devi from the seat. 

The SP has also named Rajendra Singh Patel as the party candidate from Allahabad. Patel had been a block head of the Bahadurpur block. It was earlier speculated that senior party leader and former MP Reoti Raman Singh would be the SP candidate from Allahabad.

The BJP candidate from Allahabad is state Minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi, while the Congress is yet to name its candidate from the seat. In 2014, the seat was won by Shyama Charan Gupta of the BJP.

SP spokesman K.K. Srivastava said: "The party is banking on the spotless image of the candidates who understand the pulse of the people."

Both Phulpur and Allahabad go to polls in the sixth phase on May 12.IANS