Uttar Pradesh Politics: The country will once again witness political situations. By-elections are to be held on 10 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP, which came second after the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the Lok Sabha elections, is preparing to contest the elections with the aim of a clean sweep. But the demands of an ally may increase difficulties.
These NDA allies demanded 2 seats each
According to reports, both NDA allies are demanding two seats each. Dr. Sanjay Nishad-led Nishad Party and Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) are claiming two seats each. But it is unlikely that BJP will leave any seats to its allies.
What is the basis of Nishad Party's claim?
BJP is preparing to field candidates on 10 assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad is staking claim from Majhawan and Katehari assembly seats of Mirzapur district. His demand is that in the by-elections to be held on 10 seats, two seats are ours and we will field our candidates on both the seats. It is worth noting that in the 2022 UP elections, Majhawan and Katehari seats were occupied by Nishad Party.
Why does RLD want two seats?
RLD chief Chandan Chauhan won from Meerapur seat of Muzaffarnagar district in 2022. He is now an MP from Bijnor seat and by-election is to be held on the seat vacated by his resignation. Apart from this, RLD is also claiming Khair (reserved) seat of Aligarh district. Kher seat is occupied by BJP since 2017. In 2017 and 2022, BJP's Anoop Pradhan Valmiki won the election from Kher seat and reached the assembly. Anoop is now an MP from Hathras. If RLD is demanding this seat, then it has its own logic and basis behind it.
Why is NDA in trouble?
BJP is looking at this by-election as a good opportunity to compensate for the lack of seats in the Lok Sabha elections. After the Lok Sabha elections, BJP is trying to break the aggressive attitude of the opposition by winning as many seats as possible. This by-election is also being considered a litmus test of Chief Minister Yogi's popularity. In such a situation, BJP and the Chief Minister himself do not want to leave any stone unturned.
After the results of the Lok Sabha elections, the issue of the alliance partners not getting transferred also came up in the BJP's review meetings. Dr. Sanjay Nishad has blamed the BJP for his son's defeat. Anupriya Patel is also troubling the government and the BJP by writing letters one after the other regarding reservation in recruitments. In such a situation, the BJP's strategy may be to give a clear message to its allies through the by-elections that it will not be under any pressure due to low numbers in the Lok Sabha elections.
By-elections are to be held on these seats
Of the 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh where by-elections are to be held, three seats are such where BJP had MLAs and one seat each was occupied by Nishad Party and RLD. Five seats had SP MLAs. These assembly constituencies include Majhawan, Katehari, Meerapur and Khair as well as Karahal, Milkipur, Kundarki, Ghaziabad, Phulpur and Sisamau assembly constituencies. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav was an MLA from Karahal in Mainpuri district. After being elected MP from Kannauj, Akhilesh resigned from the membership of the assembly. Apart from this, the Milkipur assembly seat of Ayodhya has become vacant due to the resignation of Awadhesh Pasi after being elected MP from Faizabad.