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Samajwadi Party releases second list of candidates
The Samajwadi Party announced the names of 17 more candidates to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh while underlining it was "not violating any coalition rule" with the Congress.
- IANS
- Published: 23:35 January 10, 2009
New Delhi: The Samajwadi Party on Saturday announced the names of 17 more candidates to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh while underlining it was "not violating any coalition rule" with the Congress.
Party general secretary Amar Singh released the second list of candidates at a press conference here. The Samajwadi Party had Thursday announced the names of 29 candidates from the state.
Singh named the candidates even as the party is still negotiating a pre-poll alliance with the Congress. Asked about this, He said: "I am not announcing the seats where the Congress won [the previous elections]. I am not violating any coalition rule."
The Samajwadi Party joined the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance after it supported the government during the July 22 trust vote in parliament last year over the India-US nuclear deal.
Referring to the Congress' request for "friendly fights" in some constituencies in the state, Singh said: "There is nothing like a friendly fight. A fight is a fight."
The Congress had urged the Samajwadi Party to field weak candidates in these constituencies, calling it a "friendly fight", sources said.
Three of the candidates named yesterday are sitting MPs, one is a legislator. The list includes three women. Eight seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes. The party has named an Urdu poet, Nawazish Alam Khan, from Muzaffarnagar constituency and a doctor, Yashveer Singh, from Nagina (SC) seat.
Lucknow: Dutt's wife may fight
If Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt is not qualified to contest the Lok Sabha elections, his wife Manyata could be the Samajwadi Party candidate from Lucknow in his place, party general secretary Amar Singh said.
"If Sanjay Dutt is unable to contest the polls, we will request the Dutt family to allow (his wife) Manyata to fight from Lucknow," Amar Singh told reporters here.
Singh Thursday announced that Sanjay Dutt, popular for his portrayal of the title character in Munnabhai M.B.B.S. and Lage Raho Munnabhai, would be the party candidate from Lucknow for the poll expected by May. However, Dutt was convicted for possessing illegal firearms ahead of the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai and his appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the verdict is still pending. Thus, he may not be qualified to contest. Dutt is out on bail and is presently shooting in Jammu and Kashmir.
Amar Singh also made an appeal to the ally Congress to support Manyata. "We hope the Congress will support her because his (Sanjay's) sister Priya Dutt (Congress MP from South Mumbai) welcomed our decision to field Sanjay," he said.
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