Akhilesh’s uncles missing in SP’s list of star campaigners for Bihar polls

The Samajwadi Party has released a list of 20 star campaigners for the Bihar Assembly elections with a big surprise.

Two senior-most party leaders and uncles of Akhilesh Yadav, Ramgopal Yadav, chief national general secretary, and Shivpal Yadav, party’s general secretary, are conspicuously missing in the list.

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Party sources here said the party president would launch his Bihar campaign from tomorrow.

Mohammad Azam Khan’s name appears prominently at the third place on the list of the star campaigners after Akhilesh Yadav and Kiranmay Nanda, who is the vice-president of the party. Akhilesh’s nephew Tej Pratap Yadav, the son-in-law of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, is also on the list.

The Samajwadi Party has tried to include leaders from all major castes in its list, including Ayodhya MP Awadhesh Prasad, who is boosting the SP’s stature as a Dalit face, and Priya Saroj, MP from Machhlishahr in Jaunpur.

Babu Singh Kushwaha, Naresh Uttam Patel, Ramashankar Vidyarthi Rajbhar, Lalji Verma, Chhote Lal Kharwar, Pappu Nishad, and Rajiv Rai have been made star campaigners among the leaders of the backward community.

Among Brahmin leaders, Sanatan Pandey, among Thakur leaders, MLA from Ghazipur Om Prakash Singh, among Muslim leaders, apart from Azam Khan, Afzal Ansari and Ikra Hasan are included in the list.

The Samajwadi Party is not contesting the Bihar assembly elections. However, it has announced its support for the INDIA bloc. Its star campaigners will campaign in favour of the Mahagathbandhan’s (grand alliance) candidates in the state.

Meanwhile , Akhilesh Yadav , who was in Kishangarh in Rajasthan on Friday, claimed that the people of Bihar want a change. During a private visit to Kishangarh, he inspected the marble industry. Speaking to the media, he claimed that the Samajwadi Party would form a government in Uttar Pradesh in 2027.

At the airport, he congratulated the INDIA bloc in advance anticipating its victory in the Bihar Assembly elections. He expressed hope that the people of Bihar now want a change and will give the INDIA and Tejashwi Yadav a chance.

Taking a dig at the BJP, Akhilesh Yadav said it is not a “double-engine” government, but an “engine of lies”. All the promises the BJP made to the public have proven false.