Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Monday announced three more candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in its 10th list. The party has declared candidates for high stakes Amethi seat, Jhansi and Pratapgarh.
In Amethi, BSP has fielded Nanhe Singh Chauhan as its candidate, replacing Ravi Prakash Maurya.
Nanhe Singh Chauhan will face BJP's Smriti Irani in Amethi. Smriti Irani had defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in 2019 Lok Sabha elections by a margin of 56,000 votes.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) will not be fielded its candidate in Amethi since it's in alliance with I.N.D.I.A bloc member Congress in Uttar Pradesh and allotted Amethi, Raebareli among 17 seats to the 'Grand Old Party'.
In Pratapgarh, the party has announced Prathamesh Mishra and Ravi Prakash Kushwaha from the Jhansi parliamentary constituency.
In another development, BSP's national coordinator and Mayawati's nephew Akash Anand was booked for a hate speech in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district on Sunday.
Senior police officials confirmed that a case against the BSP leader has been registered. The organisers of the rally where Akash Anand gave the speech, have also been booked.
Meanwhile, the BJP, on Sunday, slammed the BSP for turning into the newest nursery of nepotism.
BJP spokesman Rakesh Tripathi, while referring to a speech given by Akash Anand, said that the party leaders were issuing such statements to remain in the headlines.
“However, the comments made by these leaders regarding the BJP will cost them dear. They will have to pay the price to the Election Commission as well as in the people’s court," he said.
Addressing a rally in Sitapur, Akash Anand termed the BJP government "a government of terrorists".
He said that a government that cannot provide security to women, employment for the youth, and enslaves senior citizens by doling out free ration is a government run by terrorists.
“Such a government is run by the Taliban. The BJP government is not a government of bulldozers but it is a government of terrorists. They are enslaving you," he said.
Anand further said that if the EC felt that he should not have called them Taliban, then he would request the EC to come and see the ground realities itself.
With inputs from PTI
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