Congress gives walkover to Akhilesh, Shivpal, calls it political etiquette

Uttar Pradesh (02/02/2022): Senior Congress leader and one of its star campaigners in Uttar Pradesh, Sachin Pilot on Wednesday clarified that the party did not field any candidate against Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Singh Yadav out of “political etiquettes”.

“As political etiquettes, Congress has not fielded any candidate against Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Singh Yadav from Karhal constituency in Uttar Pradesh. When Sonia Gandhi contested from Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in the state earlier, SP did not field a candidate,” Pilot said while talking to a news agency.

Sonia Gandhi was elected as a Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli’s seat in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting from Karhal assembly seat of UP, while his uncle who heads Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) Shivpal Singh Yadav is contesting from Jaswant Nagar seat.

Notably, Samajwadi Party had also not fielded its candidate from the Amethi assembly seat against Rahul Gandhi during the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.