BSP to Contest All 8 Seats in UP Assembly Bypolls: Here's Why This is Politically Important

Lucknow: The dates for by-elections on eight assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will be announced soon and nearly all the political parties have geared up to contest these crucial polls that are being seen as a litmus test ahead of the 2022 state assembly polls. Six out of these eight assembly seats are in possession of the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while two are with the Samajwadi Party (SP). The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) too is girding itself for the bypolls, making them all the more important. The BSP has been known for not contesting by-elections, but this time the party is expected to go into the battle all guns blazing.

Though BSP supremo and former chief minister of the state Mayawati has not yet made any formal announcement to contest these elections, the party, according to sources, has started looking for strong candidates. Since the political equations in UP have changed to a great extent, the BSP is trying to save its base.

If the BSP fields its candidates on these eight assembly seats, it will turn this into an interesting multi-cornered contest with the BJP, SP and Congress also raring to go. The main concern of the opposition parties will be the splitting of votes as they will be fighting the ruling BJP that seems to be on a strong footing.

The Tundla seat of Firozabad got vacant after the resignation of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s SP Baghel following his election as a Member of Parliament. Abdullah Azam, son of Samajwadi Party MP Azam Khan, won from the Swar seat of Rampur, but his membership was cancelled by the high court after a dispute over his date of birth.

The BJP’s Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s seat Bangarmau in Unnao has been vacant since his membership was cancelled after he was sentenced to life imprisonment in a rape case. Following the death of Parasnath Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, the Malhani assembly seat in Jaunpur fell vacant.

The seats of the BJP’s Janmejay Singh from Deoria Sadar and Virender Sirohi from Bulandshahr are also vacant due to their deaths, while the Ghatampur seat of Kanpur has been vacant since the death of BJP’s Kamal Rani Varun who had tested positive for Covid-19. The Naugawan seat in Amroha fell vacant after the BJP’s Chetan Chauhan died following a coronavirus infection.