Voting got underway in the bypolls to the Suar and Chhanbey Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh Wednesday morning.
There is a direct contest between the ruling coalition and the opposition Samajwadi Party in the bypolls. Though the results will have no precipitative impact on the constitution of the assembly, it will be a morale booster for the victor before the Lok Sabha poll next year.
The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party has decided to not contest the by-elections, while the Congress has fielded its candidate only in Chhanbey.
With leaders either campaigning in Karnataka or busy with the urban local bodies elections of Uttar Pradesh, the campaign for the two seats in Rampur and Mirzapur districts has been lacklustre.
The Suar seat in Rampur district, however, will be in focus as it was held by Abdullah Azam Khan, the son of senior SP leader Azam Khan, before it was declared vacant on February 13 after a Moradabad court sentenced the young leader to two years in jail in a 15-year-old case.
In the previous assembly also, the Allahabad High Court had in 2020 set aside his election for not declaring his correct age in the affidavit.
The Samajwadi Party is going all out in its attempt to defend what can be called its last citadel in Rampur while the Apna Dal (Sonelal), an ally of the ruling BJP, is leaving no stone unturned to breach it, especially after the saffron party managed to snatch the Rampur assembly as well as the parliamentary seats, both of which were Azam Khan's stronghold.
Azam Khan himself was disqualified from the Assembly last year after a court sentenced him to three years in jail in a hate speech case.
In the 2022 UP Assembly election, Abdullah Azam Khan had defeated Apna Dal (Sonelal)'s Haidar Ali Khan on the Suar sear by a margin of over 61,000 votes.
This time, the Samajwadi Party has fielded Anuradha Chauhan from the seat and Apna Dal (Sonelal) has named Shafeek Ahmed Ansari.
The Chhanbey seat in Mirzapur fell vacant following the death of Apna Dal (Sonelal) MLA Rahul Prakash Kol in February. The party has fielded Kol's wife Rinki Kol while Kirti Kol is contesting as the Samajwadi Party candidate. Eight candidates are in the fray for this seat.
The counting of votes will take place on May 13.
Jalandhar
Polling began on Wednesday morning for the high-stakes Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll where a four-cornered electoral battle is in the offing with the AAP, Congress, BJP, and Shiromani Akali Dal vying to outdo each other in the Dalit stronghold.
Nineteen candidates, including four women, are in the fray.
The Jalandhar Lok Sabha (reserved) seat fell vacant following the death of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary. He suffered a cardiac arrest during the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jalandhar's Phillaur in January this year.