UP bypoll: Why SP gave ticket to Dharmendra Yadav for Azamgarh seat

The Samajwadi Party (SP) gave ticket to Dharmendra Yadav for the Lok Sabha by-poll in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh. There was a lot of suspense, as to who will get the SP ticket from this seat. Many were expecting that Dimple Yadav, SP supremo Akhilesh Yadavs’s wife would get the ticket from this seat. 

BUT WHY?

• The first and foremost reason could be that Akhilesh didn’t want to give ticket to an immediate family member. During the assembly polls also, Akhilesh had ensured that no one from his immediate family contested the election, as he kept himself at the front. 
• Secondly, Dharmendra Yadav is a former MP from the Badaun seat since 2004. He was elected again in 2009 and in 2014 from the same seat.
• In the Azamgarh, Dharmendra is a better contest against BJP's Dinesh Lal Yadav, a Bhojpuri actor and singer, also known as Nirahua. The BJP in 2019 had fielded Nirauaha against Akhilesh, but the Bhojpuri star lost the contest by 2,59,874 votes. 
• Even in the 2022 UP assembly polls, SP swept all the 10 seats of the Azamgarh district. This was one of the regions where the SP alliance was very strong. 
• Since 1962, there have have 14 Lok Sabha elections and two by-polls here. 12 times a Yadav candidate has won while three times a Muslim candidate has won. Twice a Thakur candidate and once a Brahmin candidate has won from here. Between 1952 and 1971, Congress had a strong presence in the region.