Uncle Vs Nephew: Shivpal Yadav to contest against Akshay Yadav in Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad

This election season Firozabad, the Uttar Pradesh town, is witnessing a prestige battle between two members of a family, Samajwadi Party's Akshay Yadav and his estranged uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav.

As the protracted family feud plays out in the open, the voters in this industrial town, however, seem glued to the national political narrative rather than local issues. Sensing division of core voters of the Samajwadi Party, the BJP has trusted an ayurvedic doctor, Chandra Sen Jadon, with a ticket from Firozabad.

There are over 17.85 lakh voters who will be decide the fate of six candidates -- sitting MP Akshay Yadav from SP, his uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav from Pragatishil Samajwadi Party (Lohia), Mr Jadon from BJP, Upendra Singh Rajput from Bhartiya Kisan Parivartan Party and Independents Chaudhary Basheer and Rajveer.

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In the last assembly elections in 2017, the BJP had recorded victory in four of the five constituencies under the Firozabad parliamentary seat dominated by voters of other backward classes. The SP-BSP-RLD alliance gives an edge to Akshay Yadav, the son of Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav, with core voters of Samajwadi Party and BSP joining hands making him a potent force.

But the road is not likely to be easy as his estranged uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav, known for his organisation skills, who had quit Samajwadi Party and launched his own outfit, is likely to make a substantial dent in the SP base because of his appeal among ground-level workers.

It has become a prestige battle in Firozabad for Shivpal Singh Yadav, younger brother of SP Patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, who has blamed his cousin and father of Akshay as the "conspirator" who forced him out of SP.

Sixty-four-year old Shivpal Yadav is trying hard to win the seat and holding meetings and public contact programmes in over 20 villages a day.

Meanwhile, the constituency votes on April 23.

(With inputs from PTI)