Lucknow, Oct 16 (PTI) After declaration of bypolls to nine of 10 vacant assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, BJP ally Nishad Party has put all its efforts to get at least one seat to contest which it held in the 2022 assembly polls.
Sources suggest that the BJP will be contesting on eight of the nine seats on which bypolls are being held and leave only one Meerapur seat for its ally RLD.
The Nishad Party is demanding two assembly seats — Katehari and Majhawan — from the BJP. But has not got a positive response from the BJP.
The Nishad Party is hopeful that the BJP will follow “Gathbandhan dharma” (coalition dharma) and give at least one seat to it.
The assembly seats where byelections will be held are Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Kundarki, Phulpur, Sisamau, Ghaziabad, Majhawan and Kahir.
Of these nine seats, the Nishad Party held the Majhawan seat, winning it in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. The Nishad Party’s Vinod Bind won the assembly polls by getting 1,03,064 votes to defeat the Samajwadi Party’s (SP’s) Rohit Shukla.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Bind won from Bhodohi parliamentary constituency and became MP on a BJP ticket. Now the Nishad Party is adamant of contesting on this seat.
Nishad Party president Sanjay Nishad, who is also a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, told PTI, “I am sure that the BJP will follow the ‘Gathbandhan dharma’ and we will get due respect in the alliance.” Asked whether he had any positive talks with the BJP leadership in this regard, Nishad said, “I think, we will get what we want.” “Today I am in Haryana for the oath ceremony (of Nayab Singh Saini government to be held on Thursday)… I will take up the matter with the BJP leadership,” Nishad said.
He is likely to meet top BJP leaders in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Asked whether he will be meeting BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Nishad said he will reveal after the meeting is held.
Except for Milkipur in Ayodhya district, the Election Commission had on Tuesday announced bypolls to nine of the 10 vacant assembly seats in UP. The bypolls will be held on November 13.
Eight of these assembly seats fell vacant after its MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha, while the bypoll in Sisamau is being held due to the disqualification of SP MLA Irfan Solanki, who was convicted in a criminal case.
In the 2022 assembly polls, five seats — Sisamau, Katehari, Karhal, Milkipur and Kundarki — were held by the SP, while the BJP had won three seats of Phulpur, Ghaziabad and Kahir. The Majhawan seat was won by the BJP ally Nishad Party. The Meerapur seat was held by the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).
Chandan Chauhan of the RLD resigned from his Meerapur assembly seat of Muzaffarnagar following his election to Lok Sabha from Bijnor.
Similarly, the Ghaziabad assembly seat fell vacant after BJP’s Atul Garg was elected to the Ghaziabad Lok Sabha seat.
Nishad Party’s Bind resigned from his Majhawan assembly seat of Mirzapur following his election to Lok Sabha from Bhadohi on a BJP ticket. BJP leader Anoop Singh alias Anoop Pradhan Balmiki left the Khair assembly seat in Aligarh following his election from Hathras Lok Sabha seat.
BJP’s Praveen Patel resigned from the Phulpur assembly seat of Prayagraj following his election to the Lok Sabha from Phulpur.
In the 2022 assembly elections, out of these 10 seats, the BJP had given Majhawan and Katehari to its ally Nishad Party, which won in Majhawan but lost in Katehari.
The Samajwadi Party has already announced the names for six assembly seats, including Karhal (Mainpuri), Sisamau (Kanpur Nagar), Milkipur (Ayodhya), Katehari (Ambedkarnagar), Phulpur (Prayagraj) and Majhawan (Mirzapur). PTI ABN ABN KSS KSS
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.