Will BJP ‘honor’ Mulayam in Mainpuri by-election?

New Delhi: By-elections may be announced soon in the Mainpuri seat, which was vacated by the death of Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. This election will be very interesting. One reason for this is the suspense over who will contest the election from the family of Netaji i.e. Mulayam Singh and secondly what will the Bharatiya Janata Party and Samajwadi Party do? Will the BJP field a candidate for Netaji’s seat against any member of his family in the by-election? Right now, citing tradition in Maharashtra, the party has not fielded a candidate against the wife of late MLA Ramesh Latte. Can this happen in Mainpuri seat of Uttar Pradesh also? The question is being raised in view of the kind of affection shown by top BJP leaders towards Mulayam Singh on his death and Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Mulayam Singh had blessed him, which is his heritage.

Before that it has to be decided as to who will contest the election from Mulayam Singh’s family. So far Dharmendra Yadav is considered to be the strongest contender. He was earlier MP from Badaun from where he lost last time. Recently, Akhilesh Yadav resigned from Azamgarh seat, Dharmendra Yadav fought from there but he lost by close to 10 thousand votes in this seat which was a stronghold of the party. So, now his name is being considered from Mainpuri. Tej Pratap Yadav, the grandson of Mulayam Singh, was once an MP from Mainpuri. He is also the son-in-law of Lalu Prasad. So, he also has a claim on this seat. The name of Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav is also discussed but it is less likely that she will fight.