Firozaad seat fell vacant when Mulayam's son, Akhilesh Yadav, resigned from there opting to retain Kannauj.

Dimple Yadav, who is the sixth member of the Mulayam family to enter politics, is contesting the prestigious election to retain the seat earlier won by her husband Akhilesh.

Akhilesh had won from Firozabad by securing 2,87,011 votes followed by SP Singh Baghel of BSP who got 2,19,710 votes and Raghuwar Dayal Verma of BJP with 1,01,561. Congress candidate Rajendra Pal Baghel polled only 6,341 votes.

This time, BSP supremo Mayawati has repeated SP Singh Baghel as the party candidate who had been Samajwadi Party MP as well in the past. Baghel parted company with SP when his previous constituency, Jalesar, was eliminated in delimitation.

Firozabad, a reserved constituency, became a general constituency only in the 2009 polls, paving the way for continued success of Samajwadi Party. Earlier Ramji Lal Suman of Samajwadi Party had been wining from there.

The SP has fielded Dimple Yadav in view of the importance of the by-election. The party had not done well in the Lok Sabha elections. And in the recent by-elections for four assembly seats too, party could win a single seat and lost deposits in a few constituencies. Now party leaders want to ensure victory in this seat as the main rivals, Raj Babbar from Congress and SP Singh Baghel had earlier been with the party and got elected to the Lok Sabha on party tickets.

Since Firozabad is dominated by the Yadav community, it would help the SP. The presence of Lodh Rajput community would also help the party. Former BJP veteran Kalyan Singh, who shared the dais with Mulayam at the recent national conference of SP at Agra, would also mobilise the support of his community voters.

Firozabad has Sikohabad, Sirsaganj, Tundla, Firozabad and Jasrana. There is no doubt that Mulayam is the undisputed leader of this region. Moreover, Sirsaganj and Jasrana had been part of Mainpuri constituency represented by Mulayam Singh Yadav a number of times.

The infighting in the Firozabad unit of the Samajwadi Party could pose some problems for party candidate Dimple Yadav. Mulayam himself has admitted that it was because of the infighting that Akhilesh himself contested from Firozabad.

The election poses a big challenge for Congress candidate and Bollywood star Raj Babbar who lost to the BSP candidate from Fatehpur Sikri Constituency in May 2009 by a narrow margin.

Congress did well in the last Lok Sabha polls in other constituencies. The Rahul factor also worked in favour of the party. Therefore, political analysts say that Raj Babbar could get support from all sections of society cutting across caste and religion. An added advantage is that he belongs to Tundla. This time Raj Babbar will have to ensure that Rahul Gandhi visits his constituency and addresses poll meetings.

Enthused by winning three out of the four recent assembly by-elections, the Bahujan Samaj Party has mobilised all resources to ensure the victory of party candidate SP Singh Baghel who lost by over 70,000 votes the last time. Prominent ministers and MLAs have been drafted for the campaign in Firozabad.

BJP candidate Raghuwar Dayal Verma was placed fourth in the last election. He had been close to Kalyan Singh who formed the Rashtriya Kranti Party. Verma returned to BJP when Kalyan was made senior vice-president of the party at the state level. It is unlikely that the BJP would put up good show in view of the infighting and the credibility crisis.

Firozabad is famous for a large number of glass factories manufacturing bangles, glass beads, glass accessories for garments, chandeliers, etc. Recession has affected the glass industry as well, and all the parties will have to work hard to win the support of lakhs of workers and their families engaged in this work. (IPA Service)