In the first major political contest after the Lok Sabha elections, a direct clash is expected between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party in the by-elections to nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.
Congress, a major partner in the opposition bloc INDIA, is not contesting the bypolls and is supporting its partner, the Samajwadi Party.
The Bahujan Samaj Party, on the other hand, is contesting all nine seats independently.
While Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led the BJP’s charge with his ‘batenge to katenge’ (divided we fall) slogan, attempting to link Samajwadi Party leaders with “organised crime and the mafia”, SP president Akhilesh Yadav largely focused on “uniting society” through his “PDA” (Pichhde, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) formula, and criticised the alleged conflict between the “double-engine” Central and state governments.
In a no-holds-barred attack, Akhilesh repeatedly claimed that those within the BJP are working to remove Yogi Adityanath from the post of chief minister.
The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM has also fielded its candidates in Ghaziabad, Kundarki, and Meerapur constituencies, while the Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) of Chandrashekhar has fielded candidates in all constituencies except Sisamau.
Ninety candidates are contesting the bypolls, with the maximum number of 14 candidates standing in the Ghaziabad assembly constituency, while the minimum number is five candidates each in Khair (SC) and Sisamau constituencies.
Although the results of the by-polls will not have any direct impact on the 403-member UP Legislative Assembly, they will send a message to various political parties.
While the SP aims to increase its tally further in the House, the BJP and its ally RLD will try to consolidate their presence in the assembly.
At present, the BJP holds 251 seats in the assembly, followed by the SP with 105 seats.
BJP allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) have 13 seats, RLD has eight, SBSP has six, and the NISHAD Party has five.
The Congress and Jansatta Dal Loktantrik each have two seats, while the BSP holds one seat.
This will be the first electoral test for the INDIA bloc as well as the NDA in the politically crucial state since the Lok Sabha elections.
Akhilesh on Tuesday urged voters to support his party. In a post on X, 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.”
BJP UP spokesperson Manish Shukla on Tuesday took a dig at the Samajwadi Party, saying, “The Samajwadi Party is afraid of losing the bypolls. Akhilesh Yadav wants to escape responsibility by blaming the Election Commission for the defeat.”
“Due to the fear of defeat, the SP is making childish demands from the Election Commission, such as that voter identity cards should not be checked. In the past, women wearing burqas have been caught engaging in fraudulent voting while disguised in burqas,” Shukla said.
He was referring to a recent letter written by SP 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, stated that the voter IDs could be checked by the polling officer on polling day.
RLD spokesperson Ankur Saxena said his party was confident of retaining the Meerapur seat, while the NDA was poised to make a clean sweep by winning all the constituencies where bypolls are being held.
