Rampal Rajvanshi: Samajwadi Party's Candidate For Misrikh Constituency (Photo: Facebook)

After the announcement of the 16 candidates of the Samajwadi party (SP) for the upcoming Lok Sabha election weeks ago, the party chief Akhilesh Yadav has released the second list, with the name of Rampal Rajvanshi  in the list. The veteran leader has been given the ticket from Misrikh Lok Sabha constituency.

The constituency is at present in the hands of the BJP, with its MP being one of the close relatives of the Rampal, according to reports. if the BJP’s MP Ashok Kumar Rawat contests from the same constituency for the second time, the battle will be between relatives. However, the BJP has yet to announce its candidate for the constituency.

It was in 1996 that Rampal Rajvanshi first came into electoral politics, becoming an MLA for the first time from the Misrikh assembly constituency on Lok Janshakti Party ticket. Since then, he has been a two-time minister; first, he became the minister of State for alternative energy. After he joined the Samajwadi Party in 2007, he again won the assembly seat on the ticket of SP and became the Minister of State for prisons under the Samajwadi government government.

Mr Rajvanshi however suffered defeat in the 2017 and 2022 assembly elections on Misrikh constituency. With the party chief choosing him for the Misrikh Lok Sabha seat, the road ahead for the SP candidate would be tougher. All four assembly seats under the Mirrikh Lok Sabha constituency,  including Misrikh, Bilhaur, Bilgram Mallanwan and Balamau are held by the BJP.

Apart from that, the constituency”s sitting MP is also from the same party. As a leader who lost two previous assembly elections to the BJP, Mr Rajvanshi will have to work hard to get an edge over the opponents. With his political clout in the Pasi community, a Dalit group in the region, he can mobilise votes effectively as he did in the past.