Leading up to the Lok Sabha elections, there’s a notable atmosphere of uncertainty stemming from the Samajwadi Party’s repeated changes in candidates across several constituencies. In Meerut, the SP has altered its candidate for the third time. Initially, Bhanu Pratap Singh was designated as the SP’s candidate for the Meerut Lok Sabha seat. After cancelling his ticket, the SP nominated Sardhana MLA Atul Pradhan, who even filed his nomination.
However, on the final day of filing nominations in Meerut, the party replaced him with Sunita Verma, the wife of former MLA Yogesh Verma, as their Lok Sabha candidate. It is evident from the recent development that the party is struggling to find a candidate against Arun Govil of the BJP who had played the role of Lord Ram in the television serial Ramayan.
According to reports, Atul Pradhan has expressed displeasure over the discussion of changing the candidate. He has reportedly warned that he will also resign from the legislature. However, on his X handle, there was a post suggesting that he agreed with the party’s decision. He wrote, “Whatever is the decision of National President Shri Akhilesh Yadav Ji, I accept it. I will soon sit and talk with my colleagues. Jai Bhim. Jai Samajwad. Inquilab Zindabad.”
Atul Pradhan filed his nomination papers for the Meerut Lok Sabha seat on Wednesday (3rd April). But the party has decided to go ahead with Sunita Verma. In Meerut, BJP’s Arun Govil will be the Lok Sabha candidate. Samajwadi Party is not getting a suitable candidate to fight against the actor who played the role of Hindu deity Lord Ram in the television serial Ramayan. Consecration of the idol of Lord Ram took place in Ayodhya on 22nd January 2024. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present as the chief guest in this program held at the grand Ram Mandir.
Meerut isn’t the sole constituency where the Samajwadi Party is grappling with candidate confusion. In Moradabad, the SP initially nominated ST Hasan, only to later rescind his ticket and replace him with Ruchi Veera, both of whom had already filed their nominations. Subsequently, Akhilesh Yadav intervened by writing to the Election Commission, asserting that the official SP candidate remained ST Hasan, and thus, he should be granted the party’s symbol, the cycle. Additionally, there are discussions about potential changes in the SP candidate for the Badaun Lok Sabha seat. Speculations suggest that Akhilesh Yadav might replace his uncle Shivpal Yadav and give the ticket to Shivpal Yadav’s son Aditya Yadav in this constituency.