Who Is Dharmendra Yadav, Samajwadi Party's Azamgarh Candidate

Akhilesh Yadav's cousin Dharmendra Yadav will contest from the Samajwadi Party's stronghold of Azamgarh in the Lok Sabha elections. Dharmendra Yadav contested the 2022 bypolls from Azamgarh but lost to BJP candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua', a popular Bhojpuri singer-actor.

Here are a few facts about the Samajwadi Party leader:

1. Dharmendra Yadav was born to Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother Abhayram Yadav and Jay Devi on February 3, 1979. He did his initial schooling in Saifai and completed his master's in political science from Allahabad University.
2. He was an active participant in student politics in his university days. Mr Yadav became the block president of Samajwadi Party in Saifai in 2003.
3. After the 2004 Lok Sabha polls when Mulayam Singh Yadav vacated the Mainpuri seat and decided to continue as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, the party fielded the 25-year-old Dharmendra Yadav in the bypolls. He won by over 1.7 lakh votes defeating Bahujan Samaj Party's Ashok Shakya.
4. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Dharmendra Yadav won from the Badaun seat in Uttar Pradesh. Despite facing a BJP wave in 2014, Mr Yadav managed to retain his seat defeating BJP's Vagish Pathak by over 1.6 lakh votes. He lost the seat in the 2019 polls, though.
5. In the bypolls held in 2022, Dharmendra Yadav contested from Azamgarh, but ended up on the losing side. BJP candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua' managed to scrape through by a margin of just over 8,000 votes. Mr Yadav will once again face the Bhojpuri singer-actor in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.