<p>Apparently finding the political stage a bit too hot to handle, unlike his comedy shows, stand-up comedian Raju Srivastava opted out of the electoral race and returned the ticket given to him by the Samajwadi Party (SP) to contest from the Kanpur Lok Sabha seat.<br /><br /></p>.<p>SP leaders here, however, claimed that Srivastava had been dropped by the party as he was not able to devote time for campaigning, and had been replaced by Surendra Mohan Agarwal.<br /><br />Popular among his fans as “Gajodhar”, Srivastava on Tuesday alleged that SP leaders in Kanpur had not been cooperating with him. <br /><br />“Although I had been declared the SP candidate from Kanpur almost a year ago, the SP workers and leaders in Kanpur never accepted the party decision. They never cooperated with me,” he said.<br /><br />“It seems as if I have ruffled a few feathers in Kanpur. The local leaders found it hard to digest my presence, and were worried about their political future,” he went on to add.<br /><br />Srivastava also said that SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's repeated directions to local party leaders to cooperate with him had fallen on deaf ears. <br /><br />“I deemed it best to return the ticket,” he said.<br /><br />He, however, remained silent when asked whether he would join some other party.<br />SP leaders, however, said Srivastava had been warned on several occasions in the past after it was found that he was not taking interest in campaigning. <br /><br />“He gave priority to his professional commitments. There were complaints from the local unit,” said a SP leader here.<br /><br />The SP quickly replaced Srivastava with Agarwal, a trader, saying that the latter was a stronger candidate.</p>
<p>Apparently finding the political stage a bit too hot to handle, unlike his comedy shows, stand-up comedian Raju Srivastava opted out of the electoral race and returned the ticket given to him by the Samajwadi Party (SP) to contest from the Kanpur Lok Sabha seat.<br /><br /></p>.<p>SP leaders here, however, claimed that Srivastava had been dropped by the party as he was not able to devote time for campaigning, and had been replaced by Surendra Mohan Agarwal.<br /><br />Popular among his fans as “Gajodhar”, Srivastava on Tuesday alleged that SP leaders in Kanpur had not been cooperating with him. <br /><br />“Although I had been declared the SP candidate from Kanpur almost a year ago, the SP workers and leaders in Kanpur never accepted the party decision. They never cooperated with me,” he said.<br /><br />“It seems as if I have ruffled a few feathers in Kanpur. The local leaders found it hard to digest my presence, and were worried about their political future,” he went on to add.<br /><br />Srivastava also said that SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's repeated directions to local party leaders to cooperate with him had fallen on deaf ears. <br /><br />“I deemed it best to return the ticket,” he said.<br /><br />He, however, remained silent when asked whether he would join some other party.<br />SP leaders, however, said Srivastava had been warned on several occasions in the past after it was found that he was not taking interest in campaigning. <br /><br />“He gave priority to his professional commitments. There were complaints from the local unit,” said a SP leader here.<br /><br />The SP quickly replaced Srivastava with Agarwal, a trader, saying that the latter was a stronger candidate.</p>