Straight contest between SP-BJP in UP bypoll

Lucknow, Aug 14 (IANS) The September 5 Ghosi Assembly by-election in Uttar Pradesh will witness an interesting contest.

The seat fell vacant after the resignation of SP MLA Dara Singh Chauhan who joined the state's ruling BJP last month.

It is quite likely that Chauhan will be the BJP candidate from the seat.

Meanwhile, in a bid to retain the seat in Mau district, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has declared former MLA Sudhakar Singh as its candidate.

Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has made it clear that it will support the SP candidate, the Congress is also likely to do the same but it is yet to take a formal decision in this regard.

The RLD and the Congress had been most of the time supporting the SP in by polls since 2018 and now three parties are part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) of the Opposition against the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Since the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) often does not contest bypolls and thus, it is likely to be a straight fight between the SP and the BJP on the seat.

And it will also be an OBC vs OBC contest.

The Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), the 2022 Assembly ally of the SP, having influence on the seat will support the BJP candidate.

Like Chauhan, the SBSP has also quit the SP alliance and joined the BJP-led NDA alliance.

Ghosi has a sizeable Rajbhar population -- the vote bank of the SBSP.

Chauhan was a minister in the previous Yogi Adityanath government and shortly before the 2022 Assembly polls, he had quit his ministership and joined the SP.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav gave him the ticket from the Ghosi seat and he won.

Sudhakar Singh had won the Ghosi seat in the 2012 Assembly polls as an SP candidate but lost it to BJP’s Phagu Chauhan in 2017.

When the incumbent Meghalaya governor Phagu Chauhan was earlier made the governor of Bihar in 2019, Sudhakar contested the by poll as an SP candidate and lost to BJP’s Vijay Rajbhar.

When the SP gave the seat to Chauhan, Sudhakar Singh following the Akhilesh Yadav’s decision sidestepped and did not contest.

SP national secretary Rajendra Chaudhary said: “We will win the elections as public support is with us and against the BJP.”

RLD spokesperson Anil Dubey said: “We will support the SP candidate.”

UP Congress president Brijlal Khabri also said: “We will decide after consultation with the party high command”.

BJP leader Navin Srivastava said: “This is the first bypoll since the Opposition decided to team up against the BJP alliance. The SP will quickly realise where it stands.”

SBSP leader Arun Rajbhar said: “The SP candidate is staring at a certain defeat. The SBSP will actively campaign for the BJP candidate. In 2022, the SP won this seat with the support of the SBSP. This time they will know the reality.”

The notification for the Ghosi bypoll was issued on August 10.

Voting will be held on September 5 and results will be declared on September 8.