Uttar Pradesh bypolls: Samajwadi Party announces candidates for all 9 seats

Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party on Thursday announced candidates for all nine seats for the November 13 Uttar Pradesh Assembly bypolls.

With Singh Raj Jatav contesting the Ghaziabad seat and Charu Kain the Khair (Aligarh) seat and Mohammad Rizwan from Kundraki (Moradabad), the SP has announced candidates for all nine seats going for the bypolls.

While SP announced names of Jatav and Kain in an official list released to media, it posted name of Rizwan on its X account later in the day.

The Election Commission has announced a by-election on nine seats, leaving out Milkipur (Ayodhya) due to a court case.

Katehari (Ambedkar Nagar), Karhal (Mainpuri), Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar), Ghaziabad, Majhawan (Mirzapur), Sishamau (Kanpur city), Khair (Aligarh), Phulpur (Prayagraj) and Kundarki (Moradabad) are up for a bypoll.

Eight of these seats fell vacant after their MLAs were elected as MPs in the Lok Sabha polls, while a bypoll is being held on the Sisamau seat due to the disqualification of SP MLA Irfan Solanki, who was convicted in a criminal case.

The SP's six candidates named earlier are -- Tej Pratap Yadav from Karhal, Naseem Solanki from Sisamau, Mustafa Siddiqui from Phulpur, Shobhawati Verma from Katehari, Jyoti Bind from Majhwan, and Sumbul Rana from Meerapur.

The last date for filing nominations is October 25. The counting of votes will take place on November 23.

Earlier in the day, the Congress announced it would not field candidates in the nine Assembly bypolls and would work unconditionally to ensure the victory of SP candidates or that of other INDIA bloc parties.

The Congress' assertion came a day after Akhilesh Yadav said all INDIA bloc candidates would contest the bypolls on the SP's 'cycle' election symbol.