SP NOMINATIONS: CONFUSION GALORE AS SEATS SEE MULTIPLE CANDIDATES

Confusion prevailed in Rampur and Moradabad Lok Sabha constituencies over the authorised Samajwadi Party candidates, as two of them, each from both the seats, filed their nominations on Wednesday proclaiming themselves to be the original party candidate. In Rampur, SP leadership furnished a surprise when it sent party state president Naresh Uttar Patel to accompany Mohibulla Nadvi to Rampur, who is the imam of a mosque in Delhi, to also file his nomination. Meanwhile Asim Raja, who is Azam Khan's confidant and had contested the 2022 Lok Sabha by-election as an SP candidate, filed his nomination papers claiming himself to be the party candidate, but party leaders claimed that Raja has filed as an Independent. Similarly, in Moradabad, SP leader Ruchi Veera filed the nomination papers as an SP candidate on Wednesday, while sitting MP ST Hasan had filed them on Tuesday. Hasan's ticket was however reportedly cancelled after the SP leadership's intervention. Meanwhile, there is a state of disapproval in a section of SP over its decision to replace Hasan with Veera in Moradabad seat.