JOIN USDimple Yadav may contest Rampur bypoll
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav could contest from the party stronghold of Rampur, which was one of the 12 seats where Assembly bypolls were slated to take place in the near future.
According to the SP sources here, Dimple, who had lost her traditional Kannauj seat in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, to the BJP, might be the party nominee from Rampur.
Rampur has been a stronghold of firebrand SP leader Azam Khan, who won the seat seven times. He was elected to Lok Sabha from Rampur seat in the recent general elections defeating film actress turned politician and BJP candidate Jaya Prada, necessitating the bypoll.
Azam Khan's wife was a member of the Rajya Sabha.
SP sources said that several senior SP leaders had expressed their desire to contest from Rampur since it was considered to be one of the safest seats for the party.
''We may have difficulty in zeroing in on a particular party leader... it may lead to resentment,'' remarked an SP leader while speaking to DH here on Wednesday.
''We can counter this difficulty by nominating Dimple Yadav from Rampur... her candidature will also galvanise the local party leaders and workers,'' the SP leader added.
The SP has so far not started the process of selection of its nominees for the Assembly bypolls nor was there any official confirmation on Dimple's candidature from Rampur.
The contest at Rampur has turned out to be a ''prestige fight'' for the SP especially after reports that the BJP was eyeing the seat. The saffron party leaders have expressed confidence that the party will ''demolish'' the SP ''fort'' in the by-polls.
It was however not clear if the BJP would consider fielding Jaya Prada from the seat, in case Dimple opted to contest from there. ''We are yet to take a decision on the candidates for the bypolls,'' said a state BJP leader here.