LUCKNOW:Hectic campaigning has begun for seven Assembly bypolls in Uttar Pradesh that are being termed as a semi-final before the next Assembly elections, scheduled to be held in 2022.
Polling on the seven Assembly seats where by-elections are being held, will take place on November 3 and counting of votes on November 10.
Of the seven seats, six are held by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and one by the Samajwadi Party. Therefore, the stakes are higher for the BJP than for other parties.
The state BJP leadership is campaigning virtually as well as physically in the constituencies where by-elections are being held and UP ministers have also been asked to remain in these constituencies.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has already held virtual rallies in these constituencies and state BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh is visiting them for meetings.
"The BJP has a well-oiled campaign machinery and even during the lockdown, we remained connected with party cadres. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the party candidates will get landslide victory in the by-elections, " said party Vice President Vijay Bahadur Pathak.
There are 88 candidates in the fray for these 7 seats.
The Bulandshahr seat has the highest number of 18 candidates while the Ghatampur (reserved) seat has the lowest of 6.
The most interesting contest is being witnessed in Malhani in Jaunpur, a seat that was held by SP.
The BJP has fielded Manoj Singh and SP has fielded Lucky Yadav, son of Parasnath Yadav whose death has necessitated the by-election.
The Bahujan Samaj Party has given the ticket to Jai Prakash, while Congress candidate is Rakesh Mishra.
However, it is mafia don and former MP Dhananjay Singh, whose presence in the fray, has queered the pitch for all parties.
Singh is contesting as an independent and enjoys good support among Thakurs who have a sizeable presence in the constituency.
Another interesting contest is in Bangarmau, the seat which became vacant after disqualification of BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar, following his conviction in a rape case.
The BJP has fielded Shrikant Katiyar from this seat, while the SP has fielded Suresh Kumar Pal and the BSP has given the ticket to Mahesh Prasad. The Congress has declared Aarti Bajpai as its candidate from the same seat.
Sources claim that the scales will tilt in favour of one who earns tacit support from Sengar's family which still enjoys clout in the area. So far, the family has maintained a studied silence on the issue.
The Tundla seat in Firozabad district fell vacant after S.P. Singh Baghel was elected to the Lok Sabha last year.
The BJP candidate is Prempal Dhangar while Samajwadi Party has fielded Maharaj Singh Dhangar. Both are both the same community.
The BSP candidate is Sanjeev Kumar Chak while the nomination of the Congress candidate, Sneh Lata, has been cancelled due to "technical reasons".
In Ghatampur assembly segment, where the seat fell vacant following the death of UP minister Kamal Rani Varun, the BJP has fielded Upendra Kushwaha on this seat while SP has made Indrajit Katori their candidate.
The BSP has fielded Kuldeep Kumar from this seat while the Congress has named Kripa Shankar as its candidate.
Sangeeta Chauhan is the BJP candidate on the Naugawan Sadat seat that became vacant following the death of UP minister Chetan Chauhan, who succumbed to Covid in August.
She is facing competition from Syed Jawed Abbas of the SP and Furqan Ahmad of the BSP. The Congress candidate is Kamlesh Singh.
In Bulandshahr, it is BJP's Usha Sirohi who is contesting the by-election, necessitated by her husband Virendra Sirohi's death.
The SP has left this seat for its ally, the Rashtriya Lok Dal whose candidate is Praveen Singh. The BSP has given the ticket to Mohammad Yunus and Congress has given the ticket to Sushil Chaudhary from this seat.
The Deoria seat that was declared vacant following the death of BJP MLA Janmejaya Singh, is witnessing a fierce contest between four Brahmin candidates.
The BJP has fielded Satya Prakash Mani- a professor in the Department of Political Science at Sant Vinoba PG College.
The SP candidate is Brahma Shankar Tripathi, a former minister, while the BSP has named Abhay Nath Tripathi and the Congress has given the ticket to Mukund Bhaskar Mani Tripathi.
Janmejaya Singh's son Ajay Singh a.k.a. Pintu Singh, however, has given a twist to the by-election by jumping into the fray as an independent.
Interestingly, the top leaders of all parties are avoiding campaigning in the by-elections and it is the Bihar election that comes in handy as an excuse.
A senior political analyst said: "Top leaders do not want to take any risk in by-elections and are, therefore, staying away from the campaign even though they have been named as star campaigners by their parties."
SP spokesperson Rajendra Choudhury said here that people are fed up with the misrule of the BJP government and the by-polls result will shock the ruling party.
UPCC President Ajay Kumar Lallu said that Congress candidates will lead the opposition camp and the ty will win maximum number of seats because it is the Congress alone, that has been fighting against the tyrannical rule of BJP.
Senior BSP leader Lalji Verma, too said that BSP candidates have an edge against others in most of the seats.
"We are contesting by-elections and people are elated over the decision. The results will be in favour of BSP, " he said.