The Samajwadi Party has staked its claim on the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat in Uttarakhand. The SP has already reached an agreement with the Congress on sharing seats in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. Both the parties are the constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000 and the SP had won from Haridwar constituency in the 2004 Lok Sabha election. The SP candidate had also won from the Haridwar assembly seat in past state assembly elections. According to sources in the SP, the party considers the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat beneficial for itself based on its vote bank. Since the victory of party candidate Ambrish Kumar in the 1996 assembly election and Rajendra Kumar in the 2004 Lok Sabha poll, the SP has been employing its winning strategy on this seat in every election. This time as well, the focus of the SP state leaders is on this seat, and preparations are underway. The sources said the decision on Haridwar parliamentary seat was likely to be finalised by March 10. The SP has not selected the candidate for the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat. The SP has only staked its claim to it and the candidate will be decided as soon as the seat sharing is finalised for Uttarakhand, a SP leader said.

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