An hour earlier, BJP candidate Subrat Pathak had also filed his nomination papers. Parthak is the sitting MP from Kannauj.

Meanwhile, Subrat Pathak told reporters that Akhilesh Yadav entering the fray would not make any difference to his victory prospects.

“Earlier, the match was between India and Nepal and now it is between India and Pakistan. In both scenarios, the winner will be India and there is no doubt about it,” he said.

It may be recalled that the Samajwadi Party had earlier named Tej Pratap Yadav as its Kannauj candidate but on Wednesday evening, Akhilesh Yadav replaced him.

Akhilesh had made his political debut from Kannauj in a by-election in 2000 and then won the seat in 2004 and 2009. His wife Dimple Yadav won the seat in the 2012 bypoll and then in 2014. However, she lost the seat to the BJP in 2019.

Party sources said that Akhilesh had decided against contesting the elections since he wanted to devote his time to campaigning. However, he changed his mind at the insistence of party workers in Kannauj.