Lok Sabha polls: SP fields Tej Pratap from Kannauj; Sanatan Pandey to take on BJP's Neeraj Shekhar on Ballia seat

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 22 (ANI): Putting an end to the speculations of Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav contesting from Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj, the party has fielded Tej Pratap Singh Yadav from the parliamentary seat.
The seat was once represented by party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple.
Tej Pratap, a former MP from Mainpuri and nephew of Akhilesh Yadav is also the son-in-law of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. He is married to Lalu's daughter Raj Laxmi Yadav.
Tej Pratap is the grandson of late SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother Ranveer Singh. He was Mainpuri MP from 2014 to 2019.
Now apart from Tej Pratap, the Yadav family members are contesting from Mainpuri, Azamgarh, Badaun and Ferozabad Lok Sabha seats.
The Party has fielded Sanatan Pandey from Ballia against BJP's Neeraj Shekhar.
Pandey had earlier too contested from here in 2019 on the SP ticket but lost to BJP's Virendra Singh Mast.
Neeraj Shekhar, the son of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, was a Lok Sabha MP from 2007 to 2014, representing SP from Ballia, the constituency earlier held by his father.
In 2014, Shekhar lost the polls to his BJP rival and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
He was not fielded by the SP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections after that, he quit the SP and joined the BJP which sent him to the Upper House of Parliament.
Ballia Lok Sabha constituency will go to polls on June 1.
In the 2019 general elections, the BJP emerged triumphant, securing 62 out of 80 seats, supplemented by two seats clinched by its ally Apna Dal (S). Mayawati's BSP managed to secure 10 seats, while Akhilesh Yadav's SP garnered five. Conversely, the Congress party secured only one seat.
Meanwhile, SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday lashed out at the BJP and PM Modi accsuing them of not having respect for the constitution.
"The lies that the people in the highest positions in the BJP are spreading against the Congress by saying absurd things in the election rallies are exposing the lies of the BJP itself. On one hand, they are claiming that they are going to win by getting 400 seats; on the other hand, they want to get some votes in the election by scaring the public by saying what will happen if the opposition wins.....The truth is that the middle class, who have one or two pieces of jewelry, is also voting against the BJP because the middle and lower middle class people are also affected by unemployment and inflation," he said in a post on X.
"Saying wrong things about a particular community by naming it is an insult to that community spread across the world. At the international level, this has hurt the secular and democratic identity of the country. This is a very objectionable statement, which cannot be forgiven....Only those who have the intention of destroying the Constitution can use such unconstitutional language," Akhilesh Yadav added. (ANI)