By-elections will be held on November 13 for nine seats in UP. Ahead of the by-election, relations between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party appear to be deteriorating. The SP has reserved Aligarh’s Khel and Ghaziabad seats to the Congress. Congress demands five seats. The party had hoped to secure at least three seats if five were needed, but that did not happen.
At the negotiating table, the party failed to gain seats as it wished, with the SP leaving only two seats for it. The friendship between the SP and Congress is locked in a fight for two and five seats. Congress is said to be unhappy with the Socialist Party’s decision to leave only two seats in the by-election. There are now also discussions that the Congress may quit UP and may refuse to field candidates in any seats.
Sources said the Congress itself may not field a candidate but support the Socialist Party as it did in the Maugosi seat by-election. However, Congress has yet to make a formal statement on this. There are many reasons for Congress’s dissatisfaction. The Northern League party’s parliamentary organizational structure is not very strong, and the party’s record of winning seats is not very encouraging. Ghaziabad is a city seat and is considered a BJP stronghold.
Even in the last election in Aligarh Khair constituency, the party’s candidate could not even reach 1,500 votes. Charu Ken, the seat sought by the Congress, had received over 60,000 votes, but she was a BSP candidate at that time. Congress leaders believe that while they are contesting the BJP on two strongholds, they should also be given a seat with a chance of winning.
That is why the Congress is demanding the seats of Maghivan in Mirzapur and Phulpur in Prayagraj or any one of them. Ajay Rai’s son was all set to field the Majhwan seat, but the SP has fielded its own candidates in these seats. The SP has also announced candidates one after another.
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There are 10 vacant seats in the UP Assembly, of which except one in Milkipur, the remaining nine seats are undergoing by-elections. Baba Gorakhnath, the BJP candidate for the 2022 assembly elections, had challenged the then-winning candidate Awadhesh Prasad in court. The petition is pending and hence the Election Commission has not announced the election schedule for Mirkipur.
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Baba Gorakhnath said in the petition that the notary used by Avadhesh Prasad at the time of nomination was obtained from a vendor whose license had expired. Among the UP seats where by-elections are being held, by-elections are being held for Karhal seat, which fell vacant due to the resignation of Akhilesh Yadav, and Sisamau, Katehari, Karhal and Kundarki seats.
