Lok Sabha polls: BSP releases list of 12 candidates, fields Sarvar Malik from Lucknow

Sarvar Malik, who has been pitted against sitting BJP MP Rajnath Singh and Ravidas Mehrotra of Samajwadi Party, had unsuccessfully contested the 2022 assembly elections from Lucknow North seat as BSP nominee.

The Bahujan Samaj Party on Wednesday released its third list of 12 Lok Sabha poll candidates for Uttar Pradesh, fielding Nandkishore Pundir from Ghaziabad and Sarvar Malik from Lucknow. With this, the Mayawati-led party has declared its candidates for 37 seats out of a total of 80 parliamentary seats in the state.

According to the latest list released by the BSP office here, the party declared its candidates for Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Mainpuri, Lucknow and Mirzapur seats, among others. In Mathura, the party has changed its candidate and now Suresh Singh will be in the electoral fray in place of Kamal Kant Upmanyu. Singh has been made BSP candidate against sitting BJP MP and actor Hema Malini.

While Nandkishore Pundir will be the party nominee from Ghaziabad, Hitendra Kumar alias Bunty Upadhyay will contest from Aligarh. According to the list, Gulshan Dev Shakya will seek election from Mainpuri, Anshay Kalra Rockeyji from Kheri, Ashok Kumar Pandey from Unnao and Rajesh Kumar alias Manoj Pradhan from Mohanlalganj (SC). The party has fielded Sarvar Malik from Lucknow, Imran Bin Jafar from Kannauj, Shubh Narain from Kaushambi (SC), Indu Chaudhary from Lalganj (SC) and Manish Tripathi from Mirzapur.

Sarvar Malik, who has been pitted against sitting BJP MP Rajnath Singh and Ravidas Mehrotra of Samajwadi Party, had unsuccessfully contested the 2022 assembly elections from Lucknow North seat as BSP nominee. His wife Shaheen Bano had unsuccessfully contested the mayoral election in Lucknow in 2023.

Indu Chaudhary is an academician associated with the BHU and Ashok Kumar Pandey is a journalist, a party leader said. Pandey has been fielded against sitting BJP MP Sakshi Mahraj. Rajesh Kumar, the candidate from Mohanlalganj seat, has been associated with the party cadre for long, he added.