Firozabad will witness a strong contest between BJP and SP

In 2019, the family feud between Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav helped the BJP win the seat. The Yadav vote got divided.

- TIKAM SHARMA

Firozabad constituency is part of western Uttar Pradesh, identified as the stronghold of the Samajwadi Party (SP). The seat came into the limelight with the victory of the Samajwadi Party’s crown prince, Akhilesh Yadav, in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. However, in the by-election held after Akhilesh vacated the seat, SP lost this seat to Congress’ veteran Bollywood actor-turned-politician candidate, Raj Babbar. Although in 2014 SP regained its fortress.

In 2019, the family feud between Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win the seat. The traditional SP votes were divided between Shivpal Yadav, who got 91,869 votes, and his nephew Akshay Yadav, who polled 4,67,038 votes, losing to BJP candidate Chandra Sen Jadaun by 28,781. Jadaun polled 4,95,819 votes. The constituency witnessed a 60.03% voter turnout in 2019.