Uttar Pradesh bypolls: Stage set for BJP-SP electoral battle

Lucknow: It is BJP versus the SP as Uttar Pradesh gets ready for bypolls in nine assembly seats on Wednesday, which are being viewed as the first electoral battle after the Lok Sabha polls.

While the Congress is not contesting the bypolls and supporting its I.N.D.I.A. bloc partner Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is contesting all nine seats on its own.

The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM too has fielded its candidates from Ghaziabad, Kundarki and Meerapur seats, while the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) of Chandrashekhar has fielded candidates on all seats except Sisamau.

Ninety candidates are in the fray in the bypolls, with the maximum of 14 candidates in the fray from Ghaziabad assembly constituency, while the minimum count of candidates is five each from Khair (SC) and Sisamau assembly constituencies.

Though the results of the bypolls will not have any direct impact on the 403-member UP Legislative Assembly, it will send a message to various political parties.

While the SP is aiming to increase its tally further in the House, BJP and its ally RLD will try to further consolidate their presence in the Assembly.

At present, the BJP has 251 MLAs in the Assembly followed by the SP with 105 MLAs. BJP allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) has 13 MLAs, RLD has 8 MLAs, SBSP has 6 MLAs, and NISHAD party has 5 MLAs.

The Congress and Jansatta Dal Loktantrik have two MLAs each, while the BSP has one MLA.

This will be the first electoral test of the INDIA bloc as well as the NDA in the politically-crucial state after the Lok Sabha elections.

Ahead of voting, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday urged voters to vote for his party.

He said, "I would like to ask all my voters, especially the young farmers, to help. The administration can only create disturbances in the elections. I hope the administration will work to protect the rights to save the Constitution given by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar."

UP BJP spokesperson Manish Shukla on Tuesday took a dig at the Samajwadi Party saying, "Samajwadi Party is afraid of losing the bypolls. Akhilesh Yadav wants to escape responsibility by blaming the Election Commission for the defeat".

"Due to fear of defeat, the SP is making childish demands from the Election Commission that identity cards should not be checked. Whereas in the past, women wearing burqas have been caught doing fake voting by wearing burqas."

Shukla was referring to a recent letter written by SP's UP unit chief Shyam Lal Pal in which he had requested the Election Commission to issue instructions that "on the day of polling, no police personnel should check the voter ID card of the voter."

Pal, citing the handbook for returning officers, said on the day of polling, the ID of the voter could be checked by the polling officer.

RLD spokesperson Ankur Saxena said his party is going to retain the Meerapur seat, while the NDA will make a clean sweep by winning all the constituencies where bypolls are taking place.

Spokesperson of Uttar Pradesh Congress Manish Hindvi said, "The people of the state have made their choice clear in the Lok Sabha elections, in which the INDIA bloc got the maximum seats. This momentum will definitely carry on further in the bypolls."

Traders' body Bhartiya Udyog Vyapaar Mandal has also appealed to traders to ensure hundred per cent voting.

"We will first present an example through hundred per cent voting and then in subsequent elections, we will have dialogue with other organisations to join our endeavour," Ravikant Garg, president of the Bhartiya Udyog Vyapaar Mandal, told PTI.

The bypolls will be held at Katehari in Ambedkar Nagar, Karhal in Mainpuri, Meerapur in Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Majhawan in Mirzapur, Sisamau in Kanpur city, Khair in Aligarh, Phulpur in Prayagraj, and Kundarki in Moradabad on November 20.

The results will be out on November 23.

While eight of these constituencies fell vacant after the sitting MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha, Sisamau is going to the bypoll after incumbent SP MLA Irfan Solanki was convicted in a criminal case.

In the 2022 Assembly polls, Sisamau, Katehari, Karhal and Kundarki were held by the SP, while the BJP won Phulpur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan and Khair.

The Meerapur seat was won by the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which is now an ally of the BJP in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).