U.P. ASSEMBLY BYPOLLS: Shivpal, Awadesh among SP leaders named in charge of six seats

The party leaders in charge of four other seats – Khair (Aligarh), Ghaziabad, Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar) and Kundarki (Moradabad) – are expected to be named soon.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Monday named its national general secretary Shivpal Yadav and Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad among the party leaders in charge of six of the 10 assembly seats for which bypolls will be held later this year.

Five seats each were held by the SP on one side and the BJP and its allies on the other. (FOR REPRESENTATION)

The six seats that the SP announced in- charges for will be contested by Samajwadi Party candidates, said a senior party leader, adding that one or two of the remaining four are likely to be left for the Congress. The SP and the Congress have said that they will contest the bypolls together and seat-sharing talks are on.

Shivpal Yadav has been named in charge of the Katehari seat (Ambedkar Nagar) and Awadhesh Prasad of the Milkipur seat in Ayodhya district.

The SP’s Chandauli MP Virendra Singh is in charge of Majhwan (Mirzapur) seat; former UP minister Chandradev Yadav of Karhal (Mainpuri), MLA Indrajeet Saroj of Phulpur (Prayagraj), and MLA Rajendra Kumar of Sisamau (Kanpur Nagar).

The party leaders in charge of four other seats – Khair (Aligarh), Ghaziabad, Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar) and Kundarki (Moradabad) – are expected to be named soon.

The 10 seats fell vacant with nine MLAs being elected to the Lok Sabha earlier this year and one, Irfan Solanki of Sisamau (Kanpur), disqualified after conviction in a criminal case.

Five seats each were held by the SP on one side and the BJP and its allies on the other.