Neeraj Shekhar, son of late prime minister Chandra Shekhar, will be the Samajwadi Party candidate from the Ballia constituency. The by-election in this Lok Sabha constituency is expected soon.

Shekhar's candidature was announced by SP leaders Janeshwar Mishra, Ram Gopal Yadav and Amar Singh at a joint press conference in the presence of Shekhar.

Chandra Shekhar had represented Ballia eight times in the Lok Sabha.

Shekhar denied suggestions that the family of the former prime minister will be a divided lot in the by-election, saying his feeling was that the entire family was backing him including elder brother Pankaj.

Neeraj said that he was the only member of the family contesting the election.