Even though the stakes are high for Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party in the bypolls to Rampur and Azamgarh Lok Sabha seats, leaders of both the parties, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, have not campaigned for their candidates so far.
Campaigning for both the seats will end on June 21 and polling will be held on June 23.
The BSP has not fielded a candidate on the Rampur parliamentary seat.
The Samajwadi Party faces the tough task of retaining both the Lok Sabha seats as Akhilesh Yadav was elected from Azamgarh and Mohammad Azam Khan from Rampur in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Both the SP leaders contested the recent UP assembly election and won after which they resigned their Lok Sabha seats necessitating the by-elections.
The two bypolls will also decide the future of the Bahujan Samaj Party, which is desperately trying to make a comeback on the centre stage of UP politics. During the last 10 years, the BSP record has been dismal as it lost the 2012, 2017 and 2022 UP assembly elections and its tally in UP assembly has been reduced to one MLA. BSP’s performance in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls was also far from satisfactory.
The Lok Sabha by-elections in Rampur and Azamgarh will be a litmus test for the Samajwadi Party which faces the challenge of holding on to its number two position in state politics. Samajwadi party has fielded Dharmendra Yadav, cousin of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Akhilesh, on Thursday, issued an appeal to the voters in both the constituencies to vote for his party. The Samajwadi Party has the highest stakes in these by-elections since both, Azamgarh and Rampur were held by SP. The BSP is playing a spoiler for SP in Azamgarh where it has fielded Guddu Jamali, a popular local leader who is likely to eat into the Muslim votes. Azamgarh has a sizeable Yadav and Muslim population and any dent in these vote banks could upset the apple cart for the SP.
Samajwadi Party's Maharashtra unit president Abu Asim Azmi, a native of Azamgarh, is leading the party's campaign in Muslim-dominated areas of the district. However, Akhilesh's absence is now emerging as a major factor in the constituency.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Bhojpuri star Dinesh Lal Yadav Nirahua who had lost to Akhilesh in 2019 in Azamgarh. The BJP campaign is supported by the presence of other Bhojpuri stars, including Manoj Tiwari, a BJP MP.
The outcome of the election now depends on how well the BSP candidate performs. The more Muslim votes he pulls will make it easier for the BJP to find a foothold in the SP bastion.
In Rampur, which is Azam Khan's stronghold, the battle is between SP and BJP. The SP candidate here is Asim Raja, a close confidant of Azam Khan. Despite his poor health, Azam Khan is campaigning for Asim Raja and his emotional appeals seem to be having the desired impact among voters.
BJP candidate is Ghanshyam Lodhi, a former Azam Khan acolyte. The BSP has not fielded any candidate in Rampur. Interestingly, the Congress has not fielded its candidate in both the Lok Sabha seats.