Lucknow, May 26 (IANS): Dimple Yadav, wife of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, will contest the June 24 Lok Sabha by-election from Kannauj constituency, the Samajwadi Party announced Saturday. Akhilesh Yadav, who thrice represented the constituency, resigned after he took over as the chief minister in March, necessitating the by-election.

Announcing the decision, Samajwadi Party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav said the party's parliamentary board had favoured Dimple Yadav after deliberations and keeping in mind the aspirations of the people of Kannauj, a family bastion of Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh.

The name of Dimple Yadav was doing the rounds ever since Akhilesh Yadav quit the parliamentary constituency when he became the chief minister, but party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav wanted "due process" to be followed to avoid the charge of promoting the family.

Dimple Yadav had unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha by-election from Firozabad in 2009 when she was trounced by actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar, a Congress candidate.

Mother of three, Dimple Yadav is known to have keen interest in politics, and she was instrumental in keeping her husband abreast of the latest developments as he toured the state in the run-up to the assembly elections.

Kannauj has once been represented by Mulayam Singh Yadav also.

Known for its fledgling perfume industry and paan masala production, Kannauj is bound by Kanpur on one side and Mainpuri (Lok Sabha seat held by Mulayam Singh Yadav) on the other. It is predominantly a Yadav bastion and considered a safe seat for the Samajwadi Party.