UP Assembly bypolls: BJP announces candidates, stage set for big battle

Lucknow: The BJP on Thursday announced its candidates for seven of the nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, where by-elections are scheduled

for November 13.

The bypolls were necessitated after nine MLAs vacated their seats following their election to the Lok Sabha, with an additional bypoll being held due to the disqualification of an MLA.

Among the BJP’s key candidates is Anujesh Yadav, who has been fielded from the Karhal constituency in Mainpuri. Anujesh will face a challenge from the Samajwadi Party’s (SP) Tej Pratap Yadav. The Karhal seat holds significant importance for the SP, as it has remained with the party since 1993, including a win in 2022 by former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Anujesh is the brother-in-law of MP Dharmendra Yadav and, through this relation, is also the brother-in-law of Akhilesh and the son-in-law of the late Mulayam Singh Yadav. His candidacy is seen as a significant move by the BJP to challenge the influence of the Yadav

family in the region.

In other key contests, the BJP has nominated Deepak Patel, a former MLA, for the Phulpur seat in Prayagraj. Patel comes from a political background, with his mother having previously represented the Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency. He will face off against SP’s Mustafa Siddiqui.

The BJP’s other nominees include Ramvir Singh Thakur for the Kundarki seat in Moradabad, Sanjeev Sharma for Ghaziabad, Surendra Diler for the reserved Khair (SC) seat in Aligarh, Dharmraj Nishad for Katehari in Ambedkarnagar and Suchismita Maurya for Majhawan in Mirzapur.

Meanwhile, there is speculation that the BJP will leave the remaining two seats — Meerapur in Muzaffarnagar and Sisamau in Kanpur City — to its allies, possibly as part of a broader strategy to consolidate votes in these regions.

The by-elections will be held for the following nine seats: Katehari (Ambedkar Nagar), Karhal (Mainpuri), Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar), Ghaziabad, Majhawan (Mirzapur), Sisamau (Kanpur City), Khair (Aligarh), Phulpur (Prayagraj), and Kundarki (Moradabad).

In the 2022 Assembly elections, the SP had won five of these nine seats, including Sisamau, Katehari, Karhal, Milkipur, and Kundarki. The BJP, on the other hand, had secured victories in Phulpur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, and Khair. The Meerapur seat was won by the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which at that time was allied with the SP.