LUCKNOW: Curtains came down on speculation about sitting BJP MP from Pilibhit Varun Gandhi jumping ship to side with Akhilesh Yadav as Samajwadi Party released its sixth list of candidates on Wednesday. SP has given its ticket to Bhagwat Saran Gangwar from Pilibhit. In all, the party declared the names of five more candidates and replaced one.
Gangwar, a five-time MLA from Nawabganj in Bareilly, had contested 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Bareilly on SP ticket. Though he had lost to BJP’s Santosh Gangwar, Bhagwat had secured about 4 lakh votes to claim the second spot. SP has fielded Ziaur Rehman Barq from Sambhal. A sitting MLA from Kundarki in Sambhal, Barq is the grandson of late SP MP Shafiqur Rehman Barq. The party had named Shafiqur as its candidate from Sambhal in the first list, but he died last month.