BJP gears up for December 5 bypoll in U.P.
Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and BJP U.P. unit chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary said lotus will bloom in the SP strongholds Mainpuri and Rampur while party will retain Khatauli seat
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has started preparations for the upcoming bypoll to Mainpuri Lok Sabha besides Rampur (Sadar) and Khatauli assembly seats. A meeting of BJP leaders is likely to be held on Wednesday to discuss the strategy for the December 5 by-election to the three seats and screen potential candidates.
After retaining the Gola Gokarannath assembly seat and earlier wresting Azamgarh as well as Rampur Lok Sabha seats from the Samajwadi Party in the bypoll, the BJP camp is upbeat. The party has mobilised its resources to win the upcoming bypoll to the three seats as well.
Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and BJP state unit president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary said lotus will bloom in the SP strongholds Mainpuri and Rampur. The BJP has mobilised its cadre to win both the seats as well as to retain the Khatauli seat. The party will announce candidates on the three seats soon and senior BJP leaders will lead the campaign, the BJP leaders said.
To challenge the might of the Samajwadi Party in its citadel Mainpuri, the BJP may field Aparna Yadav as the plan is to take the fight to the Yadav family. The seat fell vacant after the demise of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. BJP OBC leaders from the area, including Raghuraj Singh Shakya, Mamtesh Shakya and Prem Singh Shakya are also in the race for the ticket.
The BJP is working on the Lok Sabha bypoll formula to win Rampur assembly seat that fell vacant after the disqualification of the SP MLA Azam Khan who was convicted by an MP-MLA court in a 2019 hate speech case. Khan was disqualified from Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly after the court sentenced him to three years’ jail. Khan has represented Rampur assembly seat for 10 terms in the legislative assembly.
During the Lok Sabha bypoll to Rampur seat held in June, the BJP was able to get the support of Muslim community after former minister Nawab Kazim Ali Khan besides former MLAs Afroz Ali Khan and Yusuf Ali announced support to the BJP candidate Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi. The BJP is hopeful of the support of these leaders in assembly bypoll as well.
To make inroad into the Muslim community voters, the BJP is planning to hold a Muslim conference in Rampur on November 12. Senior BJP leaders, including former union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, will participate in the programme organised by the BJP Minority Morcha.
The BJP may field a backward community leader from Khatauli assembly seat that fell vacant after disqualification of BJP MLA Vikram Singh Saini who was convicted by a court in a 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case. Saini had won Khatauli seat in the 2017 and 2022 assembly elections.
“The BJP will again win the Khatauli seat in the byelection,” said party state unit chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary. Meanwhile, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary said, “The RLD- Samajwadi Party alliance will field candidate from Khatauli seat. While the alliance candidate will contest the Khatauli seat on RLD symbol, the alliance candidate from Mainpuri and Rampur seats will contest the byelection on SP symbol.”
In a press statement, secretary, Election Commission of India, Ajay Kumar Verma said, “The notification for the bypoll to Khatauli assembly seat will be issued on November 10. The last date of nomination will be November 17. The scrutiny of the nomination papers will be done on November 18. The last date for withdrawal of the nomination is November 21. The voting will be held on December 5 and counting of the votes will be done on December 8.”
