Rakesh Pandey (UP politician)

This article is about the Indian politician from Uttar Pradesh. For politician from Punjab, see Rakesh Pandey (Punjab politician). For the actor, see Rakesh Pandey.

Rakesh Pandey (born 14 August 1952) is an Indian politician and a member of the 18th Uttar Pradesh Assembly from Jalalpur as a Samajwadi Party candidate.^[1] He was a Member of Parliament in the 15th Lok Sabha from Ambedkar Nagar as a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate. From 2002 to 2007, he was a MLA in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly.^[2] In January 2022, Pandey left Bahujan Samaj Party and joined Samajwadi Party.^[3]

Rakesh Pandey
Member (MLA) of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 2022
Preceded by	Subhash Rai
In office 2002–2007
Preceded by	Sher Bahadur Singh
Succeeded by	Sher Bahadur Singh
Constituency	Jalalpur
Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha
In office 2009–2014
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Hari Om Pandey
Constituency	Ambedkar Nagar
Personal details
Born	(1952-08-14) 14 August 1952 (age 73) Kotwa Mohamadpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Political party	Samajwadi Party (January 2022 - present)
Other political affiliations	Bahujan Samaj Party (till January 2022)
Spouse	Manju Pandey ​ (m. 1971)​
Relations	Pawan Pandey (younger brother)
Children	2 (including Ritesh Pandey)
Residence(s)	Mohasinpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh
Profession	Agriculturist
As of 30 July, 2019 Source:

Personal life

Pandey was born in Kotwa Mohamadpur in Ambedkar Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh to Jagmohan Pandey and Raghuraji Devi. He studied till matriculation and is an agriculturalist by profession. Pandey married Manju Pandey on 29 June 1971. They have two sons.^[2][4] His younger son, Ritesh Pandey is an MP from the Ambedkar Nagar constituency. His older son, Ashish Pandey is a Lucknow based real estate businessman.^[5][6]

Political career

Pandey was a member in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 2002 to 2007.^[2] As a Bahujan Samaj Party politician, he was a Member of Parliament in the 15th Lok Sabha from Ambedkar Nagar from 2007 to 2014.^[2]

In January 2022, Pandey left Bahujan Samaj Party and joined Samajwadi Party.^[3] Subsequently, Pandey won from the Jalalpur constituency in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, defeating Bahujan Samaj Party's Rajesh Singh by a margin of 13,630 votes.^[1][7]