Lambhua, an Assembly seat in Sultanpur district, was just another nondescript constituency that did not deserve a second glance. There were no VIP contestants, no VIP tours, just a constituency steeped in caste wars.
The Samajwadi Party, however, has turned Lambhua into a classic example of political indecision and also a pointer towards the infighting within the party.
The Samajwadi Party, on Monday night, changed its candidate for the Lambhua Assembly segment for the seventh time since October, turning the party into a laughing stock in the political circles.
The Samajwadi first declared Santosh Pandey as its candidate for Lambhua and then after two weeks, it decided that his elder brother Anil Pandey will contest the polls. A week later, the party again declared Mr Santosh Pandey as its candidate only to replace him with one Indu Prakash Misra.
Mr Indu Prakash Misra had just started campaigning when he was replaced with a woman candidate, Surabhi Shukla who got about 10 days to campaign and then Mr Santosh Pandey was declared SP candidate for the third time.
On Monday night, the Samajwadi leadership had another change of heart and decided that Ms Surabhi Shukla will return as the party candidate in Lambhua.
“The Samajwadi circus in Lambhua is now having an adverse impact on neighbouring seats as well and the Samajwadi Party has become a butt of jokes. We fail to understand the reason for this ridiculous change of candidates. It is apparent that there is a tug of war among the party leaders but it is the party that is suffering,” said a senior SP leader from Sultanpur.