Samajwadi Party on Sunday named social activist Nafisa Ali as its candidate from the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat in place of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, whose plea for contesting the polls has been rejected by the Supreme Court.

"Nafisa Ali's name was suggested by my wife Manyata and I am very grateful to Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh that they did not thought even for a second to decide on her candidature," Dutt told reporters while announcing Ali's name from the parliamentary constituency.

He said that a number of names came up for consideration for the constituency and one of them was that of Virendra Bhatia.

"However Bhatiaji is already our Rajya Sabha candidate," Dutt said.

Maintaining that Lucknow was still his seat, he said that he would campaign for Ali who was like his sister.

Confident of a win, 52-year-old Ali said, "I am happy to have been selected by SP to represent Lucknow, a place which has been the capital of the Hindi belt. I have a long association with the city and I will combat all those who have a communal agenda. I will win from here."

The social activist said that SP was a socialist, democratic and secular party, whose credentials have been sound and therefore she decided to associate herself with it.

On asked about her relations with the Congress, on whose ticket she unsuccessfully contested the 2004 Lok Sabha polls against Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee from South Kolkata, Ali said, "It is all history now and it does not matter anymore."

"I always look at the future. The way Gandhi family loves UP, I expect that the Congress will not field anybody against me in Lucknow," she said.

"Congress has no chance of winning in UP, SP will come back here," she said.

Speaking about the possibility of former BJP leader Kalyan Singh campaigning for her, Ali said, "I think there is some misconception. Kalyan Singh is contesting independently so why will he come to campaign for me. I already have Sanjay for the purpose."

She also said that the former BJP leader should be given a second chance, "especially after he has vowed to finish off BJP in UP. So people should give him a second chance. This is what Gandhigiri is all about".