Dimple Yadav was elected as Kannauj lawmaker for the first time in 2012. (File)
Dimple Yadav, parliamentarian from Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj and wife of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, filed her nomination from her parliamentary seat this afternoon. A two-time lawmaker from Kannauj, Dimple Yadav has represented the Lok Sabha seat from here since 2012 when it was vacated by her husband, who had become the chief minister.
"The victory margin will be huge since there is an alliance between SP-BSP. BJP did not fulfil its promises and now to divert attention, it is using the security forces. It has been a failed government," Dimple Yadav told news agency ANI today.
Dimple Yadav's first electoral battle was in 2009 when she contested from the Firozabad parliamentary seat and lost to Congress's Raj Babbar.
In 2012, interestingly, she was elected unopposed from Kannauj after all major political parties decided to skip the election. The BJP announced a candidate in the eleventh hour but he failed to file his poll papers in time.
Despite her high-profile credentials, Dimple Yadav's record as a lawmaker has been a low-key one. According to PRS Legislative Research, an independent research institute, between 2014 and 2019, her attendance in parliament was just 31 per cent against a national average of 80 per cent. She participated in only two debates in the Lok Sabha and did not ask a single question.
Her husband Akhilesh Yadav is fighting the national elections from eastern UP's Azamgarh, and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav is seeking another term in the lower house - fighting from Mainpuri.
Akhilesh's cousin Dharmendra Yadav is the lawmaker from Badaun in western UP, seeking re-election. His nephew Tej Pratap Singh Yadav is the current Lok Sabha parliamentarian from Mainpuri and is likely to be given a party ticket from western UP.
Also, his estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav is a former UP government minister who is contesting from Firozabad. Akhilesh Yadav's uncle Ram Gopal Yadav is also a Rajya Sabha lawmaker.
Ahead of her nomination, UP Chief Minister and BJP leader Yogi Adityanath took a jibe at the Yadav family over "nepotism". He accused "one family of earning billions" and using caste, race to create a divide.
"This is the economics of 'social justice' followed by the SP-BSP. Seven lawmakers - father, son, brother, nephews - from the same family; from block level to panchayats, all posts are captured. Members of one family becoming billionaires within a generation. The lust of power leads to scams, robberies. In the name of caste, race, a divide is being created and people are being fooled. Beware (sic)," Mr Adityanath tweeted.