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BSP to field candidate for Azamgarh LS by-poll, but not Rampur
The BSP has decided to field a Muslim candidate, Shah Alam Guddu Jamali from Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat whereas it has decided to give walk over on the Rampur Lok Sabha seat vacated by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan who has been elected to the legislative assembly.
Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday announced to field candidate for the by-poll on Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat. However, the party will not field any candidate for by-poll on Rampur Lok Sabha seat.
The announcement of the BSP chief is seen as a move to win the support of the Muslim community before the 2024 Lok Sabha election. In a meeting of the party office-bearers held in the state unit office, Mayawati said the Muslim community should realize that it was not the Samajwadi Party but the BSP that was in a position to challenge the might of the BJP.
The BSP has decided to field a Muslim candidate, Shah Alam Guddu Jamali from Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat whereas it has decided to give walk over on the Rampur Lok Sabha seat vacated by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan who has been elected to the legislative assembly.
After the humiliating defeat in the 2022 assembly elections, Mayawati is working to win the support of the Muslim community for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Realizing the influence of Azam Khan on Muslims, the BSP chief, in a series of tweets, had slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over incarceration of Azam Khan. Terming Khan’s imprisonment a strangulation of justice, she alleged that the BJP was harassing the Muslim community.
After reports of differences between Azam Khan and the SP leadership came to light, the BSP chief has been maintaining a close watch on Khan who waas been released from jail on May 20. The BSP has also sent feelers to Khan to join the party. According to sources, a family member of Khan is likely to contest the by-poll from Rampur Lok Sabha seat considered to be his pocket borough.
The Samajwadi Party is likely to field Dimple Yadav, wife of SP national president Akhilesh Yadav from Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat. Akhilesh vacated the seat to retain the Karhal assembly seat in Mainpuri district.
The by-poll on Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats will be held on June 23.
Mayawati directed the party leaders and office-bearers to strengthen the organization by holding small cadre camps across Uttar Pradesh. The party workers should not be depressed with the defeat in the assembly election but mobilize their resources to strengthen the party at the grass roots level, she said.
“The party workers should know that the BSP has weakened Congress in UP. The party is capable of removing the BJP from power as well. The people are harassed by the anti- people policies of the BJP government, rise in the prices of the essential commodities, unemployment and demolition of properties in the name of anti- encroachment drives,” she said.
The memorials and parks constructed in the name of Dalit icons during the BSP government were being neglected under the BJP government, she said.
