Haryana Assembly poll fallout was witnessed in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday when the Samajwadi Party announced candidates for six of the 10 assembly bypolls without ignoring the demand of Congress.
Congress was demanding at least five seats, especially those that were lost by the SP in the 2022 Assembly polls. However, a day after the Haryana assembly results, SP President Akhilesh Yadav announced the candidates for six seats, including two demanded by the grand old party.
Earlier, Congress had refused to concede even a single seat to the SP against its demand for two in Haryana elections. Now, it is the turn of the SP to pay its INDIA alliance partner in the same coin.
Meanwhile, SP spokesperson Rajendra Choudhary asserted that all the six candidates announced by the party for the assembly bypolls were strong enough to defeat any BJP candidate.
Except for Sisamau, by-elections to all the ten seats, where elections are due as the members were elected to the Lok Sabha, will be held.
The SP fielded former MP Tej Pratap, son-in-law of RJD President Lalu Prasad Yadav and nephew of the SP president, from the Karhal seat in the Mainpuri district. Naseem Solanki, wife of former MLA Irfan Solanki, has been given a ticket from the Sisamau assembly seat in Kanpur which fell vacant after Irfan Solanki was disqualified after being convicted in a case.
Ajit Prasad, son of SP MP from Ayodhya Awadhesh Prasad, has been fielded from the Milkipur assembly seat and Mustafa Siddiqui from the Phulpur assembly seat. Siddiqui had contested in 2022 assembly polls but lost.
Shobhavati Verma, wife of SP MP from Ambedkarnagar Lalji Verma has been given a ticket from the Katehri assembly seat. Earlier, their daughter Dr Chaya Verma was the probable candidate.
The party has given a ticket to Dr. Jyoti Bind from the Majhwana seat in the Bhadohi district.
Two six seats for which the party has announced candidates are those where BJP had won in the 2022 assembly, Phulpur, and Majhwan, which were demanded by Congress. Bypolls in all these seats are expected to be held next month along with the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly polls.
On the other hand, the BJP has yet to announce candidates while the BSP, which is contesting the by-elections in the state for the first time, selected candidates for all the seats but names have yet to be made official