After the withdrawal of names 14 candidates are now left in the fray for the by-election to Mant Assembly seat in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh to be held on June 12.

Sanjay Lathar is believed to be the confidante of UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav who will most likely give him an important ministry, if he wins, say party leaders here.

Sanjay's main rival is Shyam Sundar Das of the Trin Mool Congress, who has represented the area six times. In the February assembly election the Samajwadi Party candidate secured only around a thousand votes.

But now the scenario has completely transformed. Sanjay Lathar who holds a Ph.D in journalism and is LLM, has galvanized the youth. Since he is seen as a leader close to the CM and enjoys a young, techno-savvy image, his supporters say he would just "cake-walk" the by-election.

Sanjay told Agratoday.in: "this area has been long neglected and injustice has been done on the developmental front. People reposed faith in Jayant Choudhary but he left them in a lurch. Now Akhilesh has given me a chance. I will do my best to open the gates of development, work for the siting of the international airport in the area, broad-base infrastructural facilities in the area to speed up economic growth."