Mulayam to contest from 2 LS seats - Azamgarh and Mainpuri

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav will contest from the Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat, besides Mainpuri which he presently represents in Parliament.

"Due to demand of party leaders and workers, SP supremo will contest from both Azamgarh and Mainpuri seats," party's national general secretary Ramgopal Yadav said here today.

The Samajwadi Party had earlier declared Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Balram Yadav as the party's candidate from Azamgarh, which has a sizable number of Muslim and Yadav population.

Speculations were rife regarding Mulayam's candidature from the Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency, but senior party leader Shivpal Yadav had earlier denied it saying that there was no such proposal.

In the 2009 elections, Mulayam won the Mainpuri seat by a margin of over 1.6 lakh votes. And BJP's Ramakant Yadav won the Azamgarh constituency by nearly 50,000 votes. SP candidate Durga Prasad Yadav came third in the constituency behind BSP's Akbar Ahmad Dampi.