U.P. Assembly byelections: SP says seat sharing fixed with Congress; not aware, says Ajay Rai

Samajwadi Party spokesperson says junior ally has agreed to contest two of the 10 Assembly seats but U.P. Congress chief insists his party is still sticking to its original demand of five seats

A Samajwadi Party (SP) spokesperson on Thursday (October 17, 2024) said its INDIA bloc ally Congress has agreed to contest two of the 10 seats where bypolls are due in Uttar Pradesh, giving the rest to the principal Opposition party, but State Congress chief Ajay Rai claimed “we are not aware of this”.

“Our agreement is final with the Congress. Of the 10 seats, the Congress will contest on two Khair (Aligarh) and Ghaziabad, while on the rest eight, the SP will contest,” said SP spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury.

The SP has already declared candidates for seven seats including Meerapur from where it has fielded Sumbhul Rana. Mr. Rai, however, said, “As of now, we stand by our demand of five seats.”

Bypolls are set to be held to 10 Assembly seats – Katehari (Ambedkar Nagar), Karhal (Mainpuri), Milkipur (Ayodhya), Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar), Ghaziabad, Majhawan (Mirzapur), Sisamau (Kanpur city), Khair (Aligarh), Phulpur (Prayagraj) and Kundarki (Moradabad).

Nine of these seats fell vacant after its MLAs were elected as MPs in the Lok Sabha polls, while bypolls are being held in the Sisamau seat due to the disqualification of SP MLA Irfan Solanki, who was convicted in a criminal case.

Except Milkipur, the Election Commission has announced polls on the rest nine seats. The polling for seats will be held on November 13.

‘Defer dates’

The ruling BJP and ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) on Thursday asked the Election Commission to defer the bypoll dates from November 13 to November 20 in view of Kartik Purnima bath and puja on November 15.

A BJP delegation led by State general secretary Govind Narain Shukla met the U.P. Additional Chief Electoral Officer and handed him a letter of their demands. “… the voting percentage in the byelection may be low due to Kartik Purnima. Therefore, it would be appropriate to fix the date of the byelection as November 20 instead of November 13,” it said.

Milkipur imbroglio

Meanwhile, the Allahabad High Court on Thursday asked former BJP MLA Baba Gorakhnath to serve a copy of his application, which seeks the withdrawal of a petition against SP leader Awadhesh Prasad’s election, to all parties and take steps for its publication in the gazette within a week.

In his petition, Mr. Gorakhnath has alleged that Mr. Prasad’s oath was incorrect while filing nomination in the 2022 Milkipur Assembly bypoll. On Wednesday, the former BJP MLA had moved the High Court to withdraw his petition challenging Mr. Prasad’s election “to pave the way for the by-election”.

Published - October 18, 2024 09:57 am IST