Samajwadi Party to go solo, announce candidates for 325 seats

In a clear snub to Akhilesh Yadav, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday announced candidates for 325 of the 403 Uttar Pradesh Assembly seats, “ignoring” his son’s objections to certain names, and “ruled out” alliance with any party for the upcoming polls.

At a hurriedly convened press conference in Lucknow, the SP patriarch released the list of 325 candidates, giving tickets to 176 sitting MLAs. Names of candidates for rest of the 78 seats would be announced soon, he said, flanked by state party chief Shivpal Yadav, while Chief Minister Akhilesh was away on a tour.

Surprisingly, the list carries names of Sigbatullah Ansari, who is the brother of jailed gangster Mukhtar Ansari, and Atiq Ahmed who faces over 40 criminal cases including of murder and attempt to murder.