Akhilesh releases list

 Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday released the party’s first list of 191 nominees for the upcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

The list covers the candidates for the first three phases of polling in the western and central UP districts.

The list which bore chief minister’s stamp of authority includes his uncle Shivpal. But over three dozens of Shivpal’s supporters have been denied nominations indicating that the chief minister was in no mood to accommodate his uncle and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav’s loyalists.

Shivpal has been fielded from his traditional Jaswant Nagar seat. However, his son Aditya Yadav has been denied nomination.

Akhilesh also denied ticket to his stepmother Sadhna Gupta’s relative Pramod Gupta, who was the party’s legislator from Bidhuna Assembly constituency.

Senior leader and Rajya Sabha member Beni Prasad Verma, a Mulayam loyalist, suffered a jolt after his son Rakesh Verma was denied candidature from Ramnagar seat. Akhilesh has fielded his close confidante Arvind Singh Gope from the seat.

Akhilesh loyalists have refuted the allegations that the chief minister has denied nominations to Shivpal supporters to take “revenge”. “Tickets have been given on the basis of winnability and image of the candidate,” said leader Rajendra Chaudhary.