A recent entrant into the electoral fray, Arjun Arya of the Samajwadi Party (SP), is fast turning the Budhni by-election into a keenly contested battle with his extensive campaign targeting both the ruling BJP and the Congress.

Arya, a strong claimant for the Congress ticket, joined hands with the Samajwadi Party after the Congress high command ruled in favour of former MLA Rajkumar Patel.

Though he started his political career with the SP, Arya moved to the Congress and carved a niche for himself in local politics by leading several agitations for the grand old party.

Arya's decision to quit the Congress comes in the wake of repeated refusals from the party leadership to heed his demands for an assembly ticket. The Congress fielded Arun Yadav from the constituency in 2018, while the party nomination was granted to Vikram Mastan in 2023.

Feeling sidelined and suffocated, Arya has returned to the SP fold at a time when fissures are just beginning to appear in the INDIA alliance, which both the SP and Congress represent.

While talking to The Pioneer, Arya blamed both the BJP and Congress for deceiving the people of Budhni. The BJP, despite having represented the poll-bound constituency for over two decades, has not carried out any development in the area, and the main opposition in the State Assembly, the Congress, has merely remained a silent spectator and failed to raise its voice.

He claimed that the people of the constituency are out to teach both parties a lesson in this election.

This is the first time that such a candidate is in the fray, one who is not saleable and has vowed to contest the election with his full might, he said.Arya filed his nomination papers on Wednesday in the presence of SP state president Manoj Yadav.

After filing his nomination, he addressed a huge gathering. His slogan during the campaigning is: ‘Sapne Sach Karein, Arjun Arya ke sang chalein; Na Bhagoda Ummidwar, Na Lapata Ummidwar, Abki Baar Tikau Ummidwar.’ (Let your dreams come true, come with Arjun Arya; the candidate is not elusive, the candidate is not missing; this time, the candidate is durable).

Political observers feel that Arya could upset the equations in the BJP stronghold of Budhni, where the ruling party is sure to feel the absence of former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Congress nominee Rajkumar Patel will also have to redraft his strategy as Arya's presence in the election is almost sure to dent the Congress vote bank that Patel had been counting on.