Kannauj or Karhal? A tough call for Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav

LUCKNOW: Akhilesh Yadav, who has been elected MP from Kannauj, now has a tough choice to make. Since he is the sitting MLA from Karhal in UP’s Mainpuri district, the Samajwadi Party chief will have to take a call on which seat he retains.
Irrespective of his choice, Akhilesh is sure to face a tough fight from the BJP which will leave nothing to win the battle of perception in the bypoll on either of the two seats.
Having won 37 Lok Sabha seats in UP, the Samajwadi Party has emerged as the third largest party in the country after BJP and Congress. Hence there cannot be a more opportune time for Akhilesh Yadav to enter national politics again. The party, too, has dropped hints that he might pick Kannauj over Karhal “if the situation demands”.
But there is another side to the story. On several occasions, Akhilesh had categorically denied nursing any aspiration for national politics and has refrained from pitching himself as the prime ministerial candidate in the event of a national coalition staking claim to form govt at the Centre. However, of late, his responses have been more open-ended.
“People in Karhal know what will happen,” Akhilesh had told TOI days before the LS results when asked which seat he would retain. It suggested that he was contesting from Kannauj after due consultation with the people of Karhal.
Even in his several media interactions Akhilesh has always said he would prefer to concentrate on Uttar Pradesh instead of national politics. He had reiterated this stand in his recent interview with TOI. “Lucknow is Lucknow. Who will like to leave the city of Lucknow,” he had said and hastened to add “One can always fly to Delhi and fly back to Lucknow.”
As per the Representation of Peoples’ Act, Akhilesh will have to take a call on Karhal or Kannauj in the next 14 days. Within SP, there is feeling that Akhilesh may not opt to give up Karhal unless and until INDIA bloc decides to stake claim to form the govt at the Centre.
The BJP will spare no effort to win the bypoll to send across a message that Lok Sabha poll results, where it got 33 seats in UP against SP’s 37, were just a one-time setback and not the start of a trend. The SP brass is aware of the BJP challenge and is prepared too.
If Akhilesh decides to leave Kannauj, the bypoll will leave SP in a tight spot like it was before the 2024 polls began. Initially, SP had named Tej Pratap Yadav from Kannauj but Akhilesh had to replace him and enter the fray following feedback from party functionaries that fielding Tej was a ‘risky’ preposition.
In case he quits Karhal, SP in all probability will field Tej Pratap Yadav from the seat as he is the constituency in-charge for Akhilesh. However, the bypoll will push SP to choose the Leader of Opposition to replace Akhilesh in the UP assembly. On the brighter side, the situation will give an opportunity to SP to name its senior most legislator, Shivpal Yadav, as LoP – but at the risk of reviving the ‘dynasty politics’ tag. Else it will offer a chance to the party strategist to name an MLA from a particular caste or community it wants to warm up to, in order to send across a strong political message.