Haryana effect? SP declares six candidates for UP bypolls
The SP had won Karhal, Sisamau, Phulpur, Milkipur and Katehri seats while it was the runner- up on Majhwa seat in 2022 UP assembly elections.
A day after the assembly poll results of Haryana and J&K were out, the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday announced candidates for six of the 10 Uttar Pradesh assembly seats where bypolls are due later this year. Of these six, five were won by the party in 2022 UP Assembly polls.
While SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s cousin Tej Pratap Yadav will be the candidate from Karhal assembly seat, Naseem Siddiqui (wife of disqualified SP MLA Irfan Solanki) will be fielded from the Sisamau seat. Ajeet Prasad, son of Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad, was announced as the candidate on the most sought-after seat - Milkipur in Ayodhya.
The SP also declared Shobhawati Verma as its candidate from Katehri assembly seat. She is the wife of SP MP from Ambedkar Nagar, Lalji Verma. The party fielded Mustafa Siddiqui from Phulpur and Jyoti Bind from Majhwa seat.
SP spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chand said, “The SP wants to defeat the BJP and wants to ample give time to candidates for campaigning. That is the reason we have announced our candidates before other parties.”
“As per my knowledge, Congress has no claim on these seats. The Congress and SP leaderships are in talks...we have announced seats keeping in mind the ‘gathbandhan dharm’. I am sure we will win on all the seats. These are the seats on which either we won or were on number two position. We have always respected the Alliance...the top leadership will decide which of the remaining seats will be given to the Congress,” he added.
The SP had won Karhal, Sisamau, Phulpur, Milkipur and Katehri seats while it was the runner- up on Majhwa seat in 2022 UP assembly elections.
On the other hand, UP BJP Spokesperson, Rakesh Tripathi raised questions on the SP-Congress alliance, saying, “It seems the alliance between SP and Congress has hit a rough patch. Or maybe it is the effect of Haryana assembly election results. The SP has announced candidates on seats, which were sought by the Congress for by-polls...I think the SP has shown Congress their place by doing this. BJP workers are all charged up by the Haryana outcome and we will win all the seats in UP bypolls “
ECI Data of 10 seats going to bypolls
Katehri (Ambedkarnagar) - SP candidate Lalji Verma had won this seat by bagging 37.78% of the votes while Congress candidate Nishat Fatima got a mere 0.83% votes. The runner-up on this seat was NISHAD party candidate Avadhesh Kumar who contested in alliance with the BJP and bagged 34.67% votes. The seat fell vacant after Lalji Verma was elected as MP in 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Karhal (Mainpuri) - Known as a stronghold of the Yadav clan, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had contested the seat and won by bagging 60.12% votes. The runner-up was BJP’s SP Singh Baghel who bagged 32.74% votes. The seat fell vacant after Akhilesh Yadav was elected as MP in 2024 Lok Sabha Polls.
Milkipur (Ayodhya) - This is one of the most talked about seat from where SP candidate Awadhesh Prasad won with 47.99% votes, followed by BJP’s Baba Gorakhnath with 41.83% votes. Congress candidate Brijesh Kumar got 1.46% votes. The seat fell vacant after Awadhesh Prasad got elected as MP in 2024 LS polls.
Majhawan (Mirzapur) - This seat was won by NISHAD party candidate Vinod Kumar Bind who contested in alliance with the BJP. He bagged 42.07% votes. SP candidate Rohit Shukla was runner-up with 28.38% votes. INC candidate Shiv Shankar Chaubey bagged 1.39% votes. The seat fell vacant after Vinod Kumar Bind was elected MP in 2024 LS Polls.
Sisamau (Kanpur Nagar) - This assembly seat was won by SP candidate Haji Irfan Solanki who bagged 50.68% votes, while INC candidate Haji Suhel Ahamad got 3.6% votes. BJP candidate Salil Vishnoi who bagged 42.83% votes was the runner-up. The seat fell vacant after SP’s Haji Irfan Solani was disqualified post his conviction in a criminal case.
Phulpur (Prayagraj) - This seat was won by BJP candidate Praveen Patel who had bagged 42% votes while SP candidate Mohd Mujtaba Siddiqui bagged 40.89%. INC candidate Siddhanath Maurya got 0.66% votes. The seat fell vacant after Praveen Patel was elected MP in 2024 LS Polls.