LUCKNOW: The by-poll to Gola Gokarannath Assembly constituency in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh is set for a straight encounter between the ruling BJP and the main opposition Samajwadi Party as the Congress and the BSP have opted out of the electoral battle.
The by-poll to the constituency has been necessitated by the death of sitting BJP MLA Arvind Giri on September 6. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Arvind Giri's son Aman Giri, 26, for the by-poll while the Samajwadi Party (SP) has given a ticket to the former MLA from the seat Vinay Tiwari.
Treating even a low-key and insignificant by-poll with utmost sincerity, the ruling BJP had pitched almost eight ministers of the Yogi cabinet 2.0 to campaign in favour of their candidate Aman Giri.
While CM Yogi Aditynath himself campaigned for Giri on Monday, others who camped in Gola to campaign for Giri included Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, state finance minister Suresh Khanna and PWD minister Jitin Prasada, both from adjoining Shajahanpur, and social welfare minister and ex-IPS officer Asim Arun.
Moreover, ministers like Baldev Singh Aulakh, Suresh Rahi and Union Minister Kaushal Kishore also put their weight behind Aman Giri in Gola.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, meanwhile, kept away from the active campaign in Gola. The main opposition party, equipped with a vote appeal issued by Akhilesh, kept its focus on door-to-door campaign for its candidate.
However, Akhilesh Yadav was expected to visit Gola, at least, once to campaign for party candidate after returning from Saifai following the end of mourning period after demise of party patriarch Mulayam Sigh Yadav, but the SP chief decided to keep away from campaigning. Tiwari was the runner-up in the 2022 Assembly polls.
The SP campaign was largely headed by SP state unit chief Naresh Uttam stressing on the local issues like inadequate relief to farmers who lost their crops to untimely floods in October.
The SP chief in his vote appeal urged the people of Gola to choose between 'Lok Tantra' (democracy) and 'Jhoota Tantra' (administration riddled with lies) claiming that the people were fed up with the BJP government under which both the corruption and inflation were rising, making the life of a common man difficult.
However, the highlight of the entire BJP by-poll campaign was that the party kept Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni out of the scheme mindfully. The opposition has been belligerent and demanding resignation of Teni for the last one year as his son Ashish Mishra's complicity emerged in the killing of four farmers crushed under his SUV during a protest under Tikuniya police station on October 3, 2021.
In all, eight persons had lost their lives in that incident as after the crushing of four farmers, the protestors had turned violent and lynched three BJP workers. A journalist was also killed in the melee.
As per political experts, if the BJP wins the Gola bypoll, it would come as a boost to party cadre ahead of two more crucial bypolls in SP strongholds.
The Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat was vacated due to the demise of Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Rampur (Sadar) assembly segment seat was vacated due to the disqualification of sitting MLA Mohammad Azam Khan.