A close aide of senior MLA Azam Khan was on Monday declared the candidate of the Samajwadi Party (SP) for the Lok Sabha byelection in Rampur while in Azamgarh the party decided to field former MP Dharmendra Yadav, a cousin of SP president Akhilesh Yadav.
Asim Raja, Rampur city SP president, was given the green signal as the party’s nominee in a meeting conducted by Mr. Khan on the last day for filing nominations. The lack of clarity on the SP candidates till the last minute had built up suspense on the possible names, including Mr. Khan’s wife Tazeen Fatima from Rampur.