Lucknow: Samajwadi Party and Congress on Monday announced its in-charges for the Uttar Pradesh assembly by-elections that are to be held on 10 seats.
The SP announced in-charges for six seats, while the Congress declared in-charges for all 10 assembly constituencies.
While SP national general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav will be in-charge of Katehari seat, Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad and Leader of Opposition in UP Legislative Council Lal Bihari Yadav will be in-charge of Milkipur seat, a senior SP leader said.
MP Virendra Singh has been given charge of Majhwa seat, former minister Chandradev Yadav will be in-charge of Karhal, party national general secretary and MLA Indrajeet Saroj will be in-charge of Phulpur seat and MLA Rajendra Kumar will be in-charge of Sishamau seat, he said.
Congress has announced party MPs Kishori Lal Sharma, Imran Masood, Rakesh Rathore, Tanuj Punia, Ujjawal Raman Singh in-charges of Sishamau, Meerapur, Kundraki, Ghaziabad and Phulpur seats respectively, a party spokesperson said.
MLA Virendra Chowhdury, former minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui, former MLA Akhilesh Pratap Singh, former MLA Rajkumar Rawat and party leader Ramnath Sikarwar got charges of Majhwan, Katehari, Milkipur, Khair and Karhal seats, respectively, the Congress spokesperson said.
Bypolls are set to be held in 10 assembly seats -- Katehari (Ambedkar Nagar), Karhal (Mainpuri), Milkipur (Ayodhya), Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar), Ghaziabad, Majhawan (Mirzapur), Sishamau (Kanpur city), Khair (Aligarh), Phulpur (Prayagraj) and Kundarki (Moradabad).
Nine of these seats fell vacant after its MLAs were elected as MPs in the Lok Sabha polls, while bypolls are being held in Sishamau seat due to the disqualification of SP MLA Irfan Solanki, who was convicted in a criminal case.
The dates of by-elections have not been announced yet.
Sishamau, Katehari, Karhal, Milkipur and Kundarki were previously held by the SP, while the BJP had won the last polls in Phulpur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan and Kahir. The Meerapur seat was held by the RLD.
While Karhal seat fell vacant due to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav getting elected from Kannauj as MP, Katehari fell vacant following the election of party's Lalji Verma to the Lok Sabha from Ambedkar Nagar Lok Sabha seat.
SP leader Awadhesh Prasad's election to the Lok Sabha from Ayodhya led to his resignation from Milkipur seat, while SP leader Zia ur Rahman Barq's Kundarki assembly seat in Moradabad has fallen vacant following his election to the Sambhal Lok Sabha seat.
Chandan Chauhan of Rashtriya Lok Dal resigned from his Meerapur assembly seat of Muzaffarnagar following his election to Lok Sabha from Bijnor.
Similarly, the Ghaziabad seat fell vacant after BJP's Atul Garg was elected to the Ghaziabad LS seat.
BJP's Vinod Kumar Bind resigned from his Majhawan assembly seat of Mirzapur following his election to Lok Sabha from Bhadohi, while party leader Anoop Singh alias Anoop Pradhan Balmiki resigned from his Khair assembly seat of Aligarh following his election from Hathras Lok Sabha seat.
BJP's Praveen Patel resigned from Phulpur assembly seat of Prayagraj following his election to Lok Sabha from Phulpur Lok Sabha seat, necessitating a bypoll in the constituency.