LS Bypolls: Congress, SP Part Ways in UP; BJP Announces Candidates

Congress and the Samajwadi Party will contest the bypolls for Gorakhpur and Phulpur on separate tickets.

Akhilesh Yadav (left) and Rahul Gandhi in a file photo.

(Photo: PTI)

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday, 19 February, announced its candidates for the Lok Sabha by-elections next month, choosing seasoned leader Upendra Shukla for Gorakhpur and former Varanasi mayor Kaushalendra Singh Patel for Phulpur, reported PTI.

The two seats in Uttar Pradesh fell vacant after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya resigned from the Lok Sabha following their appointments last year.

The choice of fielding Shukla is seen as an outreach by the party to Brahmins, who are the largest upper-caste community in the state and have been its traditional supporters.

The party also announced its candidates in Bihar, naming Pradeep Singh as its nominee for the Araria Lok Sabha bypoll and Rinki Pandey for the Bhabua Assembly by-election.

Singh, a former Araria MP, had lost to Rashtriya Janata Dal's Taslimuddin in 2014.

The by-elections are scheduled to be held on 11 March.

Congress, Samajwadi Party to Contest UP Bypolls Separately

The Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) will field separate candidates for the Uttar Pradesh bypolls for two Lok Sabha seats, the parties clarified on 18 February.

Pravin Nishad will be the Samajwadi Party candidate for the upcoming Gorakhpur bypoll while Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel would contest the Phulpur Lok Sabha bye-election, the Akhilesh Yadav-led party said on Sunday, 18 February.

On 16 February, the Congress decided to go alone in the parliamentary by-elections in Uttar Pradesh and declared its candidates.

Party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said Dr Sureetha will be its candidate for the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha bypoll, and local leader Manish Mishra will contest from the Phulpur parliamentary seat.

Voting for the Lok Sabha by-elections will be held on 11 March, while counting of votes will be held on 14 March.

For the BJP, Gorakhpur assumes significance as it is the bastion of Adityanath, who has represented it in Lok Sabha five times. Prior to Adityanath, Gorakhpur was thrice represented in the Parliament by his mentor Avaidyanath.

Phulpur, on the other hand, was once the bastion of the Congress, and represented by first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. It had for the first time witnessed a saffron surge in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when Maurya emerged victorious.

"We can clearly see that opposition votes will split with both the SP and the Congress in the fray. However, we will contest on our strengths, and emerge victorious. We believe that the hard work of the party workers will definitely help us to clinch victory on both the seats," UP BJP spokesperson Manish Shukla told PTI on 18 February.

There are only two waves - Modi wave and Yogi wave - in Uttar Pradesh, thanks to their vision for development as reflected in both the Union and state budgets.

Manish Shukla, BJP Spokesperson, UP

Congress-SP Alliance at an End?

Asked about the future of the Congress-SP alliance as both parties were contesting the polls separately, Akhilesh Yadav said "Our main aim is to defeat communal forces." We will appeal to the people of Gorakhpur to support those who fighting for the truth, he said.

Last year, hundreds of innocent children lost their lives due to shortage of oxygen, but the government did not take any step. Now even an incident of fire has been reported from the office of the principal of the (BRD) college, and all important evidences have been burnt.

Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party Chief, Uttar Pradesh

Yadav claimed that the people were feeling "harassed owing to the lies of the BJP" and exuded confidence that his party would emerge trumps in the bypolls.

We will take their election manifestos of the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls to the people. We will hold discussions to bring out the truth. They had earlier confused the people with ‘chai pe charcha’, and now they are planning to confuse with ‘pakoda’.

Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party Chief, Uttar Pradesh

Continuing his attack, Yadav alleged that farmers were dying under the burden of loans.

Apparently referring to the Nirav Modi scandal, Yadav alleged that under the BJP rule, "people are showing plans on paper to nationalised banks, and fleeing from the country after pocketing crores".

(With inputs from PTI)

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