Bypolls on 10 Assembly seats INDIA block’s first test in UP since LS makes gains
Bypolls on 10 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will be a litmus test for INDIA bloc unity after the group’s success in the recent Lok Sabha polls when they won over 40 seats, adding significantly to the inability of the BJP to gain simple majority in Parliament.
However, the two allies of the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh – the Samajwadi Party and the Congress – have failed to forge a seat-sharing pact for the bypolls even as the Congress has made claims to win five of the 10 seats dispute, a statement with which the SP may not agree.
Leaders of both parties say their aim is to defeat the BJP and they are confident that they will contest the bypolls together.
Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai told PTI, βThe party is holding ‘Samvidhan Bachao Sammelan’ (except Constitution Conferences) in all ten assembly seats going to polls. Two such conferences have already been held. We have appointed officials and observers for the elections. all ten chairs and groundwork are in progress.β
The assembly seats where bypolls are taking place are: 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 their MLAs were elected as MPs in the Lok Sabha polls, while bypolls are being held in the Sishamau seat due to the disqualification of SP MLA Irfan Solanki, who was convicted in a criminal case.
Asked if he hopes the alliance will continue in these bypolls, Rai said, “Yes. We will contest in alliance. The aim of both Congress and SP is to defeat the BJP.”
βWe have made a proposal to contest five seats in the assembly β Majhwa (Mirzapur), Phulpur (Allahabad), Ghaziabad, Khair (Aligarh) and Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar)) β from our leadership. These seats are the seats where BJP candidates had won.β Rai said.
In the 2022 parliamentary elections, the seats of Sisamau, Katehari, Karhal, Milkipur and Kundarki were won by the SP; while Phulpur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan and Kahir elected BJP MLAs. The Meerapur seat was held by the RLD.
Asked whether his party had held talks with the SP in this regard, Rai said, “A meeting was held in which this was discussed. We have informed the leadership and our UP leader Avinash Pande about this.”
When asked specifically whether he sees the alliance continuing in the bypolls, Rai said, “Yes, 100 percent. Ummid nahi, pucca hai (It’s just a hope, but a certainty).”
In the Lok Sabha polls held in April and May, the INDIA block partner Samajwadi Party won 37 seats while Congress got six. The BJP had won 33 seats (up from 62 in 2019), while ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Apna Dal (Sonelal) got two and one seats respectively.
The Azad Samaj Party had won one seat.
When PTI asked about the byelections, SP chief spokesperson and national secretary Rajendra Chowdhury said, “We are fully prepared for the elections. INDIA bloc will win all the ten seats.”
On the seat sharing and Congress’ demand of five seats, Chowdhury said, ‘Baith ke tay hoga’ (We will sit together and decide). He did not elaborate, but only said that the party leadership will decide.
This time, the BJP will not be able to do anything untoward at polling booths, he said. “We are working on our preparations down to the booth level and are laying emphasis on making our party strong at the booth level,” Chowdhury said.
The dates of the midterm elections have not yet been announced.
While Karhal seat fell vacant with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav being elected MP from Kannauj, Katehari has been vacated by Lalji Verma of the party after being elected MP from Ambedkar Nagar Lok Sabha seat.
SP leader Awadhesh Prasad’s election to 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 Sambhal seat Lok Sabha.
Chandan Chauhan of the Rashtriya Lok Dal resigned from his Meerapur assembly seat in Muzaffarnagar after his election to Lok Sabha from Bijnor. The Ghaziabad seat fell vacant after Atul Garg of the BJP was elected to the Ghaziabad LS seat.
Vinod Kumar Bind of the BJP resigned from his Majhawan assembly seat in Mirzapur after his election to Lok Sabha from Bhadohi, while party leader Anoop Singh alias Anoop Pradhan Balmiki resigned from his Khair assembly seat in Aligarh after his election from Hathras Lok seat sabha.
Praveen Patel of the BJP resigned from the Phulpur assembly seat from Prayagraj after his election to Lok Sabha from the Lok Sabha seat of the same name.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First publication: Oct 6, 2024 | 4:25 PM IST