POLITICAL ACTIVITY here has gained momentum in view of the Kauriram assembly byelection.
Divisional incharge of Congress Ram Pujan Patel is arriving here on Saturday and is slated to hold several meetings with Congress leaders to finalise the party’s strategy for the by- election.
It may be recalled that the Congress has fielded Shivshambhu Nishad in this by-election. City unit president of the party Chaudhary Irshad Husain has appealed to the Congress workers to sink their differences to ensure the success of the party candidate.
Meanwhile, hectic lobbying has started to mount pressure on rebel BJP candidate Upendra Dutt Shukla to withdraw his nomination at the last moment as the party has fielded BJP MP Adityanath’s spokesperson Shital Pandey as the official candidate. Sources said Shukla was not in a mood to compromise on the issue, which had worried the BJP leaders.
Sources said a delegation of senior BJP leaders approached rebel leader Upendra Dutt Shukla but they were dejected as Shukla refused to compromise.
According to sources, divisional BJP president Lallan Tripathi, former cabinet minister Shiv Pratap Shukla and state vice president of BJP Shiv Pratap Shahi appealed to Shukla to reconsider his decision and to withdraw his nomination but Shukla flatly refused the request and said the people of the area wanted him to contest the election.
{{/usCountry}}According to sources, divisional BJP president Lallan Tripathi, former cabinet minister Shiv Pratap Shukla and state vice president of BJP Shiv Pratap Shahi appealed to Shukla to reconsider his decision and to withdraw his nomination but Shukla flatly refused the request and said the people of the area wanted him to contest the election.
{{/usCountry}}Hindu Yuva Vahini candidate Dhiraj Singh Harish is also in a tight spot as Yogi Adityanath can ask him to withdraw his nomination in favour of BJP candidate Shital Pandey.
The BSP is not contesting this by-election. However, Vipin Kumar Singh, son of former MLA and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Ambika Singh, has filed his nomination as an independent candidate. He claims to enjoy the tacit support of the BSP.
SP candidate Rambhual Nishad and Congress candidate Shiv Shambhu Nishad have taken the lead in terms of election propaganda. They have launched a mass contact programme and are organising corner meetings.
The city unit of the Congress Party also organised a meeting at the party office and said the state government had failed to fulfill its constitutional duty.