As the Lok Sabha elections loom closer, the era of ticket changing continues within the Samajwadi Party. In Akhilesh Yadav's party, no one can be certain when a ticket might be revoked and reissued to someone else, completely unexpectedly. Recently, the party swapped tickets so frequently in Rampur, Moradabad, and Meerut that even their party workers became confused. Now, there are speculations that the Samajwadi Party might also replace their candidate in Lucknow.
According to sources, the current Lucknow candidate Ravidas Mehrotra's ticket might be cut. A new leader being considered is Love Bhargav, who is currently leading the race. Reports suggest Akhilesh Yadav is not pleased with Ravidas Mehrotra, as he has not campaigned in his constituency as vigorously as expected from the candidates.
Strong alliances have been formed for the elections between Samajwadi Party and Congress. In this, Samajwadi Party is fielding candidates on 63 seats, while Congress is contesting on 17. While Congress has yet to field candidates on all seats, SP's repeated changing of candidates has left their workers baffled.
In Meerut, the Party first appointed Bhanu Pratap, a Dalit face, as their candidate. Then, Akhilesh switched it to legislator Atul Pradhan and soon after, ticket went to Sunita Verma, wife of Yogesh Verma.
Similarly, before Meerut, the party also swapped candidates in Baghpat. Initially, Manoj Chaudhary, belonging to the Jat community, was the nominee. This was followed by a ticket to Amar Pal Sharma, only to have Akhilesh reinstate the former candidate eventually.
The candidates shuffling isn't limited to Meerut and Baghpat; it also occurred in Gautam Budh Nagar and Badaun, where discussions about Aditya Yadav, son of Shivpal Yadav, becoming a candidate have started.
Furthermore, the party initially gave the ticket for Muradabad to S.T. Hasan. However, under Azam Khan's influence, the nomination was handed over to Ruchi Veera the very next day after filing the nomination papers. This sudden change has been a topic of intense discussion.
The selection of SP's candidate for Azam Khan's stronghold Rampur has also been contentious. Akhilesh Yadav had to personally meet with Azam Khan in Sitapur Jail to finalize the ticket. Initially, it was thought that Azam's confidante Aseem Raja would be given the ticket and he even bought a nomination form. Later, Delhi's Parliament Street Jama Masjid Imam Maulana Mohibullah Nadvi was declared the candidate.
