Battle lines drawn in Kannauj as Akhilesh strives to reclaim MSY's legacy

THE battle for Kannauj, a former Samajwadi Party bastion, suddenly turned fiercer after SP chief Akhilesh Yadav entered the contest at the last moment, replacing his nephew Tej Pratap Yadav as the SP candidate.

- NAMITA BAJPAI

When the SP had initially announced Tej Pratap Yadav as the candidate for Kannauj, the BJP immediately pounced on the regional party for promoting dynastic politics. But now with Akhilesh in the fray, the optics has changed making the contest no longer a cake walk for the sitting BJP MP Subrat Pathak, who had emerged a giant killer in 2019 by defeating Akhilesh's wife Dimple Yadav.

Subrat himself admitted as much, saying he had thought it would be like an India-Nepal match when Tej Pratap was the opponent; but with Akhilesh's entry, it has turned to an IndiaPak match, which can go either way.