Mainpuri is one of the most high-profile Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh with the seat being held by a member of Samajwadi Party's first family since 2004 when Mulayam Singh Yadav won it for the first time in the general elections.
The election in Mainpuri is more than a prestige battle for Samajwadi Party as it is the home of party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Saifai, which has become synonymous with Mulayam family, is part of Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency.
Mainpuri is among ten of UP's 80 Lok Sabha seats which will go to polls on April 23 in the third phase of the general elections. With Mulayam Singh Yadav contesting from here again, Mainpuri has become one the most keenly watched Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.
The campaigning in Mainpuri saw an unprecedented spectacle of Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati sharing dias after burying their hatchet after 24 years of Lucknow state guest house episode involving an attack by SP workers on Mayawati for withdrawing support from the Samajwadi Party-led government.
The BSP supremo sought vote for the SP founder, sending a strong signal of new bonhomie between the two allies, which threatens to upset the BJP's poll cart in Uttar Pradesh.
Mulayam Singh Yadav first won from here in 2004 when was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He, however, resigned soon after and chose to stay in UP. He fielded his nephew Dharmendra Yadav, son of SP patriarch's little known brother Abhay Ram Yadav, in the by-poll. In 2009, Dharmendra was shifted to Budaun and Mulayam again contested from Mainpuri. This time, he retained the seat and served as its MP for five years.
In 2014, he contested both from Mainpuri and Azamgarh but chose to retain the latter after winning both. This time, the party filed Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, another nephew of Mulayam, to represent the seat in Lok Sabha. Tej Pratap is the son of Mulayam's elder brother Ratan Singh Yadav and son in law of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.
Mulayam, facing BJP's Prem Singh Shakya in this election, is favourite to win.
The Parliamentary constituency comprises five legislative assembly segments - Bhongaon, Jaswantnagar, Karhal, Kishni and Mainpuri.
UP is facing a three-pronged battle between the BJP, the Congress and BSP-SP-RLD alliance. Under the alliance's seat-sharing formula, the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is contesting on 38 Lok Sabha seats of the total 80 seats, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party on 37 seats and the Chaudhary Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on three seats. The alliance has left two for Congress' Sonia Gandhi (Raebareli) and Rahul Gandhi (Amethi).
The polling for the third phase is to be held on April 23 for ten Lok Sabha seats in the Rohilkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. The results of the Lok Sabha election 2019 will be declared on May 23.
