Ms Dimple Yadav, wife of UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and daughter-in-law of Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, field her nomination for the byelection to the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat on Tuesday.
Accompanied by her husband and senior SP leaders and ministers, Dimple will be laying claim to the seat that has been recently vacated by her husband.
Dimple had unsuccessfully contested the Ferozabad byelection in 2009 after her husband Akhilesh had vacated it. She had lost to Mr Raj Babbar of the Congress.
This time, Kannauj is likely to be a cakewalk for Dimple who is the first woman from the Yadav clan to step into politics. Besides the overwhelming support from the people and the excitement among voters, the idea of electing the chief minister’s wife has already turned Kannauj into “Bhabhiji’s bastion”.
The Congress has already decided not to field any candidate against her and the BJP and BSP are yet undecided about contesting the byelections.
Nominations in Kannauj will close on Wednesday.
and BJP spokesman Hriday Narain Dixit said that his party will take a decision on Kannauj soon. The BSP in UP had no idea if the party would field a candidate or let the seat go uncontested.
Polling in Kannauj is scheduled to take place on June 24.