Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has called a meeting of BJP’s quota ministers today. The main agenda of the meeting is the by-elections to be held on 10 seats in the state. Therefore, ministers of allied parties Ashish Patel and Sanjay Nishad have also been called in this meeting. In fact, the 16 ministers that the BJP has given charge of all 10 seats include Ashish Patel and Sanjay Nishad.
The results of the Lok Sabha elections in UP did not come as expected by the BJP, while by-elections were held in 13 seats in 7 states in the same month, the results of which are also adding to the BJP’s tension. In such a situation, BJP and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath do not want to leave any stone unturned in the preparation of by-elections.
By-elections will not be easy for BJP
Out of the 10 seats for which by-elections are to be held in Uttar Pradesh, 5 seats were held by the Samajwadi Party, the remaining 5 seats were held by the BJP and its allies. That means the contest should be even, but after the Lok Sabha elections, the equations have changed. In UP, not only BJP’s seats have decreased but its vote share has also decreased to 41 percent. Not only this, the SC-ST and OBC voters also appeared to defect from the BJP in this election, after which it can be assumed that the by-elections will not be easy for the BJP.
A target of winning all 10 seats has been set
At the BJP state executive meeting held in Lucknow on Sunday (July 14), CM Yogi aimed to win the by-elections on all the seats. For this, in addition to three ministers, the responsibility of each seat of the BJP has been assigned to an official of the organization. Recently, the party’s state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and organization general secretary Dharampal Singh also decided the election strategy for the by-elections. Now Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has called a meeting to prepare for the by-election.
Reason for by-elections on 10 assembly seats
Due to the resignation of MLA-turned-MP leaders, by-elections are to be held in Katehari, Milkipur, Karhal, Phulpur, Mazwan, Ghaziabad, Mirapur, Kundarki and Kher assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh. The reason for the by-election in Kanpur’s Sismau seat is the 7-year sentence given to MLA Irfan Solanki. In fact, Samajwadi Party MLA from Seesamau, Irfan Solanki, was sentenced to 7 years in jail in a 2-year-old arson case, after which his membership of the assembly was revoked.
Understand the equation of by-election seats
Karhal
Due to the resignation of Akhilesh Yadav, a by-election is to be held in the Karhal seat of Mainpuri district. Akhilesh Yadav won the Lok Sabha elections from Kannauj, the Karhal seat fell vacant after his resignation. Akhilesh Yadav is preparing to field his nephew Tej Pratap from this seat. BJP needs to field a strong candidate in this seat who will not only retain the vote bank of BJP but also can dent the votes of Akhilesh camp.
Dudhiapur
Ayodhya’s Milkipur assembly constituency is a seat from which Samajwadi Party’s Awadhesh Prasad has been MLA for 9 times. Awadhesh Prasad has raised his flag by winning the election from the Faizabad (Ayodhya) seat in the Lok Sabha elections. The Samajwadi Party may field his son Ajit Prasad on the Milkipur seat, which fell vacant after he resigned from the post of MLA. The opposition is buoyed by its victory in the Ayodhya seat in the Lok Sabha elections, so the BJP wants to retain the seat at least in the assembly by-elections.
Kundaraki
The Kundarki seat in Moradabad district falls in the Sambhal Lok Sabha, due to its Muslim majority, the seat is considered a stronghold of the Samajwadi Party. Samajwadi Party’s Ziaur Rehman Bark was an MLA from here, who won the Lok Sabha elections from Sambhal and became an MP. In such a situation, this seat will also prove to be a big challenge for BJP, although coming with RLD may give BJP some advantage in this seat.
Kathari
This seat of Ambedkar Nagar was also held by the Samajwadi Party. Senior SP leader Lalji Verma was an MLA from here and this time he has been elected as MP from Ambedkar Nagar. This seat, which fell vacant due to the resignation of Lalji Verma, is also one of the tough seats for the BJP.
Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad MP Atul Garg was MLA from this seat. After becoming an MP, a by-election is to be held on the Ghaziabad assembly seat. The Congress and the Samajwadi Party contested the Lok Sabha elections together and fielded Dolly Sharma as a joint candidate. It is expected that in the by-elections as well both the parties will put their full strength to win this seat by fielding a common candidate.
Mirapur
The Mirapur seat in Muzaffarnagar was held by BJP’s ally RLD, but RLD won the seat in alliance with the Samajwadi Party. In such a situation, this seat too will not be easy for BJP as the equations have completely changed. From this seat, RLD MLA Chandan Singh has now become MP from Bijnor and due to the Muslim majority, the hopes of Congress and Samajwadi Party have increased in this seat.
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Aligarh’s Kher seat was also captured by BJP. BJP’s Anup Pradhan was elected as an MLA from Valmiki Kher seat in the 2022 assembly elections. He entered the Parliament by winning the Hathras seat in the Lok Sabha elections. A by-election is to be held after Kher resigns from the post of MLA. Anup Valmiki defeated BSP candidate Charu in the assembly elections, now that BSP supremo Mayawati has also decided to contest the by-election, the contest here could be interesting.
Phulpur
Phulpur seat was won by BJP in assembly elections, Praveen Patel is now elected MP from Phulpur Lok Sabha seat. A by-election is due here due to Praveen’s resignation as MLA. There are several contenders from the BJP for this seat, so it remains to be seen which candidate the party will field.
The middle one
Nishad Party’s associate Dr. Vinod Kumar Bind won the assembly elections from Mazwan seat in Mirzapur. Now he has become MP from Bhadohi. In such a situation, it remains to be seen whether the BJP fields its candidate for this seat or gives a chance to its ally Nishad.
Sismau
Of the 10 by-poll seats, Sismau is the only seat where a by-poll is scheduled due to the disqualification of the sitting MLA. This seat has become vacant after the sentencing of Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki. It is believed that Akhilesh may give ticket to Irfan Solanki’s wife Naseem Solanki for the by-election.
BJP on the back foot due to by-elections?
Samajwadi Party president and MP from Kannauj Akhilesh Yadav has hit out at the BJP government. Akhilesh Yadav has written on the social media platform saying that the government should cancel the order completely. He also wrote that, “BJP’s real face has been revealed before the teachers and the general public. Teachers and general public will defeat BJP not only in the by-election but in every election to come. People have used the bulldozer of people power over the bulldozer of arbitrariness of the BJP government.
