Bureau Prayagraj. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has announced late on Wednesday night that in the by-elections to be held on 9 seats of UP, the common candidates of the Indian alliance will contest on the bicycle symbol. Before this announcement, there was speculation that no consensus was being reached between SP and Congress regarding seat sharing. Claims and counter-claims were also being made by the state leadership of SP and Congress for different numbers of seats. The situation was becoming such that questions were being raised on the future of the opposition India alliance in UP.
Now there will be no seat sharing in the India alliance for the by-elections to be held on nine seats of UP. Akhilesh Yadav has announced that now candidates will be fielded on the election symbol of Samajwadi Party on all the seats. This does not mean that all the candidates will be from Samajwadi Party only. Akhilesh has said that India Alliance will have a common candidate, but the election symbol will be of SP. Akhilesh Yadav has issued a statement on this late in the night, “Under this strategy of 'It is not about winning the seat', the joint candidates of 'India Alliance' will contest elections on all the 9 seats on the symbol of Samajwadi Party, 'Cycle'. Will fight. Congress and Samajwadi Party are standing shoulder to shoulder for a big victory. India alliance is going to write a new chapter of victory in this by-election.
The SP chief further said, “The strength of the Samajwadi Party has increased manifold with the coming together of the top leadership of the Congress party from the top leadership to the booth level workers. With this unprecedented cooperation and support, 'India Alliance' has emerged victorious on all the 9 assembly seats. -A worker is filled with new energy by taking the pledge of victory. This is an election to save the dignity and respect of the country, hence our appeal is that not even a single vote should be divided. This harmonious unity and solidarity in the interest of the country will write new history today and tomorrow too.”
However, earlier there were reports that Congress had originally sought five of the 10 assembly seats (including Milkipur). However, the Samajwadi Party had last week said that the Congress has agreed to contest on two seats of Ghaziabad and Khair and left the remaining seats for the Akhilesh Yadav-led party.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had reached Wayanad on Wednesday for the nomination of sister Priyanka Gandhi. Wayanad seat has been vacated by Rahul Gandhi and by-election is to be held here also. When Rahul Gandhi returned from Wayanad, according to sources, Akhilesh Yadav had a conversation with him late in the night. Rahul Gandhi said that instead of the offer of 2 seats from SP, he would not contest on any seat.
Actually, Congress was demanding the seats of Meerapur and Phulpur. Akhilesh has already fielded two Muslim candidates for this. In such a situation, the Congress Party felt that not contesting the elections was a better option. After talking to Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav has given information about this new formula by posting on X.
Voting will be held on all nine seats of UP on November 13 and the results will come on November 23. October 25 is the last date for nomination. Samajwadi Party has announced the names of its candidates on six out of nine seats. Now the remaining three seats can also be announced soon.
Although every seat in these nine seats is important, but if we look at the political competition, Karhal's name comes first among the important seats. Karhal in Mainpuri district is the seat from where Akhilesh Yadav was the MLA. After becoming MP in this year's Lok Sabha elections, Akhilesh resigned from Karhal and has given ticket to his family member Tej Pratap Yadav as the candidate from here.
The second important seat is Sitamau of Kanpur. Irfan Solanki was disqualified due to his conviction. Samajwadi Party has given ticket to Irfan Solanki's wife Naseem Solanki from Sisamau. Naseem Solanki has also filed nomination from here.
Actually, by-elections were to be held on 10 seats of UP, among them Karhal of Mainpuri, Sisamau of Kanpur, Phulpur of Prayagraj, Katehri of Ambedkar Nagar, Majhwan of Mirzapur, Milkypur of Ayodhya, Ghaziabad Sadar, Khair of Aligarh, Meerapur of Muzaffarnagar and Kundarki of Moradabad. Seats included. However, by-elections have been declared only on 9 seats. The date has not been announced for Milkipur seat.
BSP is also ready to show its strength in the by-election battle for 9 assembly seats of UP. BSP has announced candidates for all 9 seats. In order to prepare for the 2027 assembly elections, the party is ready to put its full strength in the by-elections. BSP is contesting the by-election after a long time, hence the contest has become triangular.
BSP may have fielded alone in the by-elections, but it has fielded candidates keeping in mind the caste equation of the seat. BSP's situation in the UP by-elections is do or die. If BSP wants to win even a single seat in the by-elections, it will have to compete with the SP led alliance on one side and the BJP led NDA on the other side. That is why in the by-elections, the challenge for BSP is not only to open its account but also to bring back the votes of the Dalit community. In such a situation, it remains to be seen how effective Mayawati's move will be.
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