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UP Lok Sabha by-polls: BJP hopes to make inroads into SP strongholds
The SP won all 10 assembly segments in Azamgarh in this year’s polls, the reason why the seat is high on BJP’s priority
Lucknow: The June 23 by-polls to Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats are on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s “priority list” as the ruling party sees it as an opportunity to make inroads into the Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) strongholds. The SP managed to win the seats even as BJP swept the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in the state.
Like in this year’s assembly polls, the by-polls are also seen essentially as a contest between SP and BJP even as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has filed its candidate, Shah Alam, from the Azamgarh seat.
Alam quit the SP before the assembly polls after failing to get a ticket. He unsuccessfully contested as an All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen candidate before returning to BSP.
“By fielding him [Alam], the BSP chief [Mayawati] is looking to divide the Muslim vote... which suits the BJP, which has again filed Bhojpuri singer Dinesh Yadav Nirahua,” said an SP leader, requesting anonymity.
In 2014, when SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav successfully contested the Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat, Alam was the BSP candidate. In 2019, Yadav shifted to Mainpuri, leaving the Azamgarh seat for his son, Akhilesh Yadav, who bettered his father’s record by securing 60% votes compared to Nirahua’s 35.1%.
The SP won all 10 assembly segments in Azamgarh in this year’s polls, the reason why the seat is high on BJP’s priority. “We regularly analyse where we are weak and look to improve. It is an ongoing process, but, if you insist, then yes, Azamgarh is among the seats where we want to improve our performance, and this by-poll, we fancy our chances,” said a BJP leader said, who did not want to be named.
Yadavs, Muslims, and Dalits account for the bulk of the electorate in Azamgarh.
Rampur is a stronghold of SP leader Azam Khan, who vacated the Lok Sabha seat after he was elected to the state assembly even as he was in jail. The Congress is unlikely to field candidates either for Rampur or Azamgarh. The BJP is relying on former Khan loyalist Ghanshyam Lodhi to wrest the seat. Ahead of 2022 assembly polls, Lodhi was expelled from SP.
An SP leader said there is a possibility that someone from Khan’s family will be offered the ticket from Rampur. “It could be his wife or his daughter-in-law.”
