LUCKNOW: With the Indian Union scoring a major breakthrough against the BJP in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections, by-elections to 10 vacant seats are likely to be tightly fought with the ruling party under pressure to regain power.
The date for the by-elections has yet to be announced by the Election Commission, but the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Indian National Congress have announced that they will contest the elections jointly under the Indian Union. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has also begun preparations, party leaders said.
Seats fell vacant after nine lawmakers, including Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, were elected to the Lower House, while SP state legislator from Sisamau and Kanpur MP Irfan Solanki was disqualified after serving a prison sentence in a criminal case.
Brajbhushan Dubey, special secretary to the UP Congress, said: PTI Information regarding the 10 vacant seats has been sent to the Election Commission.
“Procedurally, by-elections can be held in these seats within six months,” he said.
Five of these seats were won by the Samajwadi Party in 2022 and one by the Rajya Sabha Congress Party (RLD), which was in alliance with the SP at the time. Three seats were won by the BJP and one by the Nishad Party, an ally of the BJP.
Though the by-election results are not numerically significant as the BJP has a comfortable majority in the state assembly, it will have an impact on morale on both sides as a further defeat for the BJP will further consolidate the victories of the opposition SP and Congress.
While the SP and the Indian National Congress have expressed confidence of continuing their winning streak, party leaders said the BJP too will do “something special” to boost its “credibility” in the by-elections.
“The NDA will fight the state assembly by-elections with all its might. There is no pressure from anywhere. Rather, the NDA will fight the state assembly by-elections with all its might. BJP activists are always prepared for office and elections,” BJP state media chief Manish Dikshit told PTI news agency. “The party will fight the elections with all its might and the result will be a special achievement,” he said.
On the question of whether to give seats to alliance partners, he said, “This will be decided by the party leadership, but at the organisational and government levels, we have started preparations for the elections with full force.” Asked about the matter, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief spokesperson and national secretary Rajendra Chaudhary said, “Preparations for by-elections have begun in all vacant seats and we will contest the elections with full force in alliance with the Congress Party and win.”
“The committee formed for conducting the Lok Sabha elections is preparing for these 10 seats and Speaker Akhilesh Yadav will form a new committee for this after the Assembly session,” he said.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Rai said, “The Indian Union will fight the upcoming by-elections unitedly. Alliance leaders will meet soon to discuss seats and election strategy.” A Bahujan Samaj Party leader said her party president Mayawati would convene a meeting of senior leaders from all states in Lucknow on Sunday to also discuss strategy for the by-elections.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Indian Union won 43 of the state’s 80 seats, of which 37 went to the Socialist Party and six to the Congress.
Meanwhile, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party won 33 seats, while its ally the Indian National Front won two and the Apna Dal (S) won one.
The BSP did not open an account in this election.
The BJP and its allies won 73 seats in 2014 and 64 seats in 2019.
In the 2022 state assembly elections, the BJP along with its allies won a total of 273 seats.
According to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly website, in the 403-seat House of Representatives, the BJP holds 249 seats, its ally Apna Dal (S) 13, the People’s Front (Rashtriya Lok Dal) eight, the Suheldev Indian Samaj Party six and the Nirbhar Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) five.
The main opposition Socialist Party has 103 members, the National Conference has two, the People’s Liberation Front (Loktantrik) has two and the Bahujan Samaj Party has one.
In by-elections to four constituencies held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections, the SP and BJP won two seats each, but their legislators are yet to take oath.
The state legislators elected from the NDA to the Lower House are Chandan Chauhan of the Indian National Congress, Atul Garg, Anoop Valmiki and Praveen Patel of the BJP, and Vinod Kumar Bin of the Nirbhar Indian Chausit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD).
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and its MPs Ziaur Rahman, Lalji Verma and Awadhesh Prasad have been elected to the Indian Parliament.
Published June 23, 2024 06:55 IST
