E-Paper
Congress to stake claim on five U.P. bypoll seats
As state party leaders sought feedback on potential candidates, the current political landscape, and caste combinations for the five seats, some district party leaders also tried to discuss seats held by the Samajwadi Party (SP).
LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Congress has decided to stake its claim on five of the 10 by-election assembly seats currently held by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies.
Although the Election Commission of India has yet to announce the bypoll schedule, the Congress is working out a strategy and has informed its members that the election will be contested in alliance with the Samajwadi Party. The party has also asked its workers to start preparations to support the Samajwadi Party candidates for the remaining five seats.
“Yes, we will stake a claim for the five seats currently held by the BJP and its allies in the state legislative assembly. We discussed only these five seats, gathered feedback from our workers, and asked them to prepare for the bypoll,” said Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Rai, who presided over a meeting with district and city presidents from the 10 districts where the assembly seats going to bypoll fall.
As state party leaders sought feedback on potential candidates, the current political landscape, and caste combinations for the five seats, some district party leaders also tried to discuss seats held by the Samajwadi Party (SP). These leaders were instructed to focus on preparing to support SP candidates for those seats. The party also gathered information on likely candidates from the BJP and BSP for the bypoll.
“We will contest the seats that we get as our share in the bypoll. We have asked the partymen to start preparing to support SP candidates for the five seats held by our alliance partner,” said UPCC general secretary Anil Yadav.
The BJP and its allies hold five of the ten seats, while the Congress’ major INDIA bloc partner, the Samajwadi Party, holds the remaining five in the state legislative assembly. The by-election to nine seats is required due to sitting MLAs being elected as MPs. Additionally, SP MLA Irfan Solanki’s disqualification after a seven-year conviction has necessitated a bypoll for the Sisamau assembly seat in Kanpur Nagar.
The ten assembly seats set to go to bypoll are Katehri (Ambedkar Nagar), Karhal (Mainpuri), Milkipur (Ayodhya), Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar), Ghaziabad, Majhwa (Mirzapur), Sisamau (Kanpur Nagar), Khair (Aligarh), Phoolpur (Prayagraj), and Kundarki (Moradabad). Of these, the BJP held seats in Ghaziabad, Khair, Aligarh, and Phoolpur. The BJP’s ally, the RLD, had the Meerapur seat in Muzaffarnagar, while the NISHAD Party held the Majhwa seat in Mirzapur.
