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Lucknow, October 24 (IANS) Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) on Friday released the list of 20 star campaigners for the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar. The list of party stalwarts who will strengthen the public outreach of the grand alliance (Congress-RJD-Left) also includes 10-time MLA Azam Khan, who has recently come out of jail.
Prominent names who will contest the high-stakes battle include SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav, his wife and MP Dimple Yadav, party MPs Rajiv Rai, Iqra Hasan, Priya Saroj and others.
SP’s star campaigners will soon enter the fray and garner public support for the Grand Alliance candidates.
The other 20 leaders who will power the SP’s election campaign in Bihar include Kiranmay Nanda, Afzal Ansari, Awadesh Prasad, Babu Singh Kushwaha, Naresh Uttam Patel, Rama Shankar Vidyarthi, Lalji Varma, Chotelal Kharwaar, Sanatan Pandey, Pappu Nishad, Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, Om Prakash Singh, Kashi Yadav and Dharmendra Solanki.
Fielding Azam Khan as the party’s popular campaigner in Bihar is clearly aimed at wooing the support of the minorities, as he is one of the most influential leaders of the Muslim community. This also settles speculations about his possible exit and alliance with a party outside the India Bloc, as reports suggested that the SP veteran was being wooed by parties like OP Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSJ).
SBSJ, which failed to get any share in the NDA seat-sharing formula, has announced going solo in the Bihar elections and vowed to damage the alliance by fielding candidates in the western region.
With the end of the deadline for withdrawal of candidates’ names, full-fledged election campaigning has begun in Bihar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election onslaught marked a decisive and strong start for the BJP, while for the Grand Alliance, its candidates for the CM and Deputy CM posts began campaigning from Patna on Friday.
–IANS
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