Lucknow, June 15: Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said that his wife Dimple Yadav will not contest the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections and attributed the decision to counter allegations of nepotism against his party. He also dared Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to initiate similar steps. Meanwhile, he also announced that he would contest from the Kannauj constituency from where his wife won the Lok Sabha elections and party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav will contest from Mainpuri.

On May 2012, Akhilesh resigned from the Kannauj seat to further serve as the CM of UP after his party won the Assembly elections.

At least 12 family members and close relatives of SP patriarch Mulayam reportedly were representing the party in Parliament, state assembly, Zila Panchayat and co-operatives. Like Mulayam Yadav, daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav, nephew Dharmendra and grand-nephew Tej Pratap are members of Lok Sabha; son Akhilesh was UP chief minister. Mulayam's younger brother Shivpal, a sitting UP MLA, was one of the most influential ministers in Akhilesh cabinet.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 15, 2018 12:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).