In snub to Congress, SP names 6 candidates for UP bypolls
A day after the Congress’s poor poll performance in Haryana, the Samajwadi Party snubbed a seat-share request of its INDIA bloc ally for bypolls to 10 Uttar Pradesh Assembly seats later this year.
The Congress wanted to contest on five of the seats. However, the SP on Wednesday named candidates for six of the 10 seats without consulting Congress.
One of the six candidates is SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s cousin Tej Pratap Yadav as its candidate from the Karhal Assembly, a family stronghold. Akhilesh had won the seat in 2022, but given it up after winning the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat.
From Milkipur in Ayodhya, Ajeet Prasad, son of Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad, will be contesting. Shobhawati Verma, wife of SP MP Lalji Verma, will be contesting from Katehri Assembly seat; Naseem Solanki, wife of former SP MLA Irfan Solanki, has been fielded from Sisamau; Mustafa Siddiqui from Phulpur and Jyoti Bind from Majhwa.
UP Congress in-charge Avinash Pandey said: “It is true that no information was given and there have been no talks with the INDIA alliance coordination committee on the bypolls yet. But, as far as the announcement of seats and contesting elections is concerned, whatever decision the committee takes, it will be accepted by us.”
Taking a jibe at Congress, SP leader Ravidas Mehrotra said Congress did not give a single seat to the SP in Haryana, but gave the entire state to the BJP.
“If Congress had fought on an alliance with SP and AAP, today the INDIA alliance would have been in power in Haryana. The Congress did not give a single seat to the SP but gave the entire state to the BJP. We want to defeat BJP in the by-elections in UP, so we have announced the list of 6 candidates,” Mehrotra said.
He added that that the party had good chances of winning all six seats. “Talks with Congress on the remaining four seats are underway,” he said.
Excluding Sisamau, nine seats became vacant after their MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha. The bypoll in Sisamau is being held after MLA Irfan Solanki was disqualified from the seat over his conviction in a criminal case.
