Dr Naval Kishore Shakya, The SP's Candidate From Farrukhabad Constituency

As the Samajwadi Party is set to confront the general election with increased vigour, the party released its list of candidates. The party chief Akhilesh Yadav has revealed the Farrukhabad constituency candidate as Dr Naval Kishore Shakya. Dr Naval Kishore is a cancer surgeon renewed for his grace in helping the poor and needy. He runs hospitals in Lucknow and Kayamganj.

Dr Naval Kishore was a former Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) leader and later joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) in 2018. He is also the son-in-law of SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya, as he married Swami Prasad Maurya’s daughter, Sanghamitra Maurya in 2010. However, the marriage did not last longer, as Sanghamitra Maurya filed for divorce in 2017 and got separated in 2021.

Sanghamitra Maurya joined the BJP in 2019. She defeated the senior Samajwadi party leader Dharmendra Yadav in the 2019 general election, becoming a BJP MP. Dr Naval Kishore remarried an Etawah resident, Priyanka Shakya in 2022.

Since the 2014 Lok Sabha election, BJP candidate Mukesh Rajput has secured victory in the Farrukhabad constituency. In the 2019 general election, SP had contested from the constituency joining the grand alliance with BSP, with Manoj Aggarwal of BSP from BSP as the alliance candidate. Manoj Aggarwal became runner-up with 34.71% votes. The BJP candidate Mukesh Rajput Male could garner 56.8% votes, winning the seat.

In 2014 too, the BJP candidate Mr Mukesh Rajput won the seat, securing 25.17 % vote share while the SP candidate accumulated 15. 85% votes. While the relative dominance of the BJP was obvious, it is to be watched how the strategic selection of the candidate in the Farrukhabad constituency benefits the Samajwadi Party in the upcoming general election.