Kanpur: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s cousin Abhishek Yadav alias Anshul, has been declared the Zila Panchayat chairman candidate from Etawah, informed party’s district president Gopal Yadav on Wednesday. Abhishek is son of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s younger brother Rajpal Yadav. His mother Prem Lata had also been Zila Panchayat chairperson of Etawah. In 2015, Abhishek was elected Zila Panchayat chairman of Etawah unopposed. “After Anshul won district development council (DDC) member election from Saifai ward II in Etawah recently, a proposal in this connection was mooted in the meeting of district office-bearers. On Tuesday, the party high command gave its final nod in this regard,” Yadav added. There are a total 24 DDC members in Etawah who will elect the chairman of Zila Panchayat. The seat has remained with the Yadav family since the past 20 years. Mulayam’s cousin and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Ramgopal Yadav also held this seat in the past. “We are contacting other elected DDC members to support Abhishek,” a senior office-bearer said. In the recently concluded panchayat elections, Abhishek had defeated his nearest rival, BJP-backed Avneesh Yadav with a margin of 16,254 votes. While Abhishek had secured 22,610 votes, Avneesh polled 6,356 votes. Abhishek, a management graduate, had worked for the party in several assembly and Lok Sabha elections.