• Source:JND
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Akhilesh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party chief, will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat. He will file the nomination papers tomorrow, as the party has declared him the candidate. The election for the Kannauj seat will be held in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha election on May 13. The result will be declared on June 4. 

The Samajwadi Party posted on its X account that Akhilesh Yadav would file his nomination papers in Kannauj at noon on Thursday. According to IANS sources, the Samajwadi Party's cadres were allegedly upset at Tej Pratap's candidature and wanted the party chief to contest the seat.

Earlier, the party declared Tej Pratap Yadav, the son-in law of RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav, as its candidate for the seat. After Akhilesh was declared the candidate for the polls, a total of five family members will be contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Among them are Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri, Akshay Yadav from Firozabad, Aditya Yadav from Badaun, and Dharmendra Yadav from Azamgarh. 

Akhilesh Yadav had won the seat in a by-election in 2000, and then in 2004 and 2009. His wife Dimple Yadav won the seat in the 2012 by-election and then in 2014. However, she lost the seat to the BJP in 2019. According to news agency IANS, quoting party sources, Akhilesh Yadav had decided against contesting the elections since he wanted to devote his time to the campaign. Tej Pratap Yadav was earlier the MP from Mainpuri.