BSP replaces Dhananjay’s wife with sitting MP Shyam Singh Yadav from Jaunpur

LUCKNOW: In a dramatic turn of events, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) changed its candidate for the Jaunpur Lok Sabha constituency on Monday, the last day of nomination for the sixth phase, nearly 20 days after declaring Shrikala Dhananjay Singh, the wife of tainted politician and former MP Dhananjay Singh, as its candidate on April 16. She even filed her nomination on May 1 and was vigorously campaigning in the constituency.

The BSP has once again placed its bet on its sitting MP from Jaunpur, Shyam Singh Yadav, who filed his nomination papers as the BSP candidate on Monday. BSP’s Jaunpur president Sangram Bharati confirmed that Srikala was also expelled from the party for her involvement in anti-party activities and indiscipline.

Earlier, the BSP had given a ticket to Shrikala when Dhananjay Singh’s plan to contest from Jaunpur on the Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket was foiled after he was sentenced to a seven-year jail term on March 6 in the case of extortion and kidnapping of ‘Namami Gange’ project manager Abhinav Singhal in 2020.

It was said that Dhananjay Singh had created trouble for Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Kripa Shankar Singh by fielding his wife from BSP, making it easier for the Samajwadi Party candidate, Babu Singh Kushwaha, a former minister in the BSP government, to win. However, the last-minute change by the BSP has made things easier for Kripa Shankar Singh.

Interestingly, both Singh and Kushwaha have played mentorship roles in Dhananjay Singh’s political journey. Kripa Shankar Singh, who quit the Congress in 2019 and joined the BJP in 2021, is said to have provided patronage to Dhananjay Singh during his initial days, while Kushwaha helped him to get an MP ticket from the BSP.