LUCKNOW: The Haryana assembly poll outcome seems to have pushed the ruling BJP to be more accommodative as far as the Jat support is concerned.
The saffron brass, which was contemplating to contest all the 10 Uttar Pradesh bypoll assembly seats itself, may now leave one seat in western UP for ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). As per the highly-placed sources, the ruling party has finalised the names of the candidates for nine seats except Meerapur segment in Muzaffarnagar district and it may go to the RLD.
The Meerapur seat has been vacated due to the victory of sitting RLD MLA Chandan Chauhan from Bijnor Lok Sabha seat for the lower house of parliament in recently concluded general elections.
In a high-level meeting in Delhi late on Sunday evening, the party’s Central leadership put its seal on the names of the candidates for the nine seats. However, the announcement is likely to be made only after the Election Commission of India (ECI) issues notification for the bypolls.
In the meeting presided over by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda at his residence, it was decided to offer the Meerapur seat to the RLD. However, the party refused to concede any seat to the NISHAD Party though it had a sitting MLA Dr Vinod Bind in the Majhawan Assembly segment in Mirzapur. Bind won on BJP symbol in the Lok Sabha election from Bhadohi. Hence NISHAD party chief Dr Sanjay Nishad had been demanding Majhawan to contest in bypoll.
As per the sources, BJP UP chief Bhupendra Chaudhury along with both the deputy CMs – Keshav Maurya and Brajesh Pathak - have been deputed to convince Sanjay Nishad to relinquish his claim to the seat. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, both the deputy chief ministers, Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, BJP State President Bhupendra Chaudhary, and General Secretary, Organisation Dharampal were present in the meeting that lasted for about an hour.
However, BJP sources said on Monday that the party would field only backward leaders from the Katehri, Majhawan, and Phulpur seats. The party will field a Dalit face in Milkipur since it is a reserved seat and the stakes are quite high. Notably, the sitting SP MLA from Milkipur - Awadhesh Prasad - emerged as a giant killer and defeated BJP candidate and two-term sitting MP Lallu Singh in Faizabad, which comprises of Ayodhya as well, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The sources further said it has been decided in the meeting that keeping in mind the caste equation, new faces will be fielded in all the seats.
The notification for the by-elections may be issued by October 20. According to the sources, the UP government and the organisation have assured the Central leadership that BJP will win most of the seats in the by-elections.
As per the caste equation, the contest may not be as difficult for the BJP in Milkipur, Katehari, Majhawan, Meerapur, Ghaziabad, and Khair as in SP’s traditional seats Karhal (Mainpuri) and Muslim-dominated Kundarki (Moradabad) and Sisamau (Kanpur) seats.
Of the 10 assembly seats up for grabs in bypoll, five – Katehari, Karhal, Kundarki, Milkipur and Sisamu - have been vacated by the Samajwadi Party’s sitting MLAs. BJP had three seats—Ghaziabad, Khair and Phulpur. Majhawan was with BJP ally NISHAD and Meerapur was with RLD. Recently, the Samajwadi Party had announced six candidates for Karhal, Phulpur in Prayagraj, Katehari in Ambedkar Nagar, Majhwan in Mirzapur, Milkipur in Ayodhya, and Sisamau seat of Kanpur.
