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New Delhi. Voting will be held on Monday for the by-elections to the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh and six assembly seats in five states. In Mainpuri, a close fight is being seen between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This seat has become vacant due to the demise of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. The assembly seats on which by-elections are being held include Rampur Sadar and Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh, Padampur in Odisha, Sardarshahar in Rajasthan, Kurhani in Bihar and Bhanupratappur seat in Chhattisgarh.
Election officials have made elaborate arrangements regarding the by-election. The counting of votes for one parliamentary and six assembly seats will be held on December 8. The counting of votes for the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh will also take place on the same day. Rampur Sadar and Khatauli assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh and Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency bypolls are expected to be a direct contest between the BJP and the SP-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance.
BSP-Congress missing on Rampur Sadar and Khatauli assembly seats
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress are not contesting on these seats. According to a statement issued by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh, 24.43 lakh people will be able to exercise their franchise in the by-elections. These include 13.14 lakh men, 11.29 lakh women and 132 third class voters. Votes will be cast from 7 am to 6 pm at 3,062 polling booths located in 1,945 polling stations.
By-elections on Rampur Sadar and Khatauli assembly seats
The bypolls were necessitated due to the disqualification of SP MLA Azam Khan and BJP MLA Vikram Singh Saini in Rampur Sadar and Khatauli seats in Uttar Pradesh following their conviction in separate cases. Azam Khan was disqualified after being sentenced to three years imprisonment by a court in a 2019 hate speech case.
At the same time, Saini lost the membership of the assembly after the announcement of his conviction in a case related to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. The results of the bypolls will have no bearing on the stability of the central or state government, as the BJP enjoys a majority in both the places. However, a victory in these elections would provide a psychological advantage to the parties ahead of the 2024 general elections.
By-election on Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat
Dimple Yadav, daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh and wife of Akhilesh Yadav, is SP’s candidate in Mainpuri parliamentary constituency, while BJP has fielded Raghuraj Singh Shakya. Shakya has been a confidant of Mulayam’s brother Shivpal Singh Yadav. Buoyed by the victory in the by-elections in the Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats in June, the BJP is trying to defeat the SP in its two more bastions, while the SP, led by Shivpal and Akhilesh With a public show of unity, the tide is expected to change.
By-election on Sardarshahar seat of Rajasthan
Rajasthan’s Sardarshahar seat was held by Congress MLA Bhanwar Lal Sharma (77), who died on October 9 after a prolonged illness. The Congress has fielded Sharma’s son Anil Kumar there, while former MLA Ashok Kumar is the BJP candidate. Eight other candidates are also in the fray.
By-election on Padampur seat of Odisha
Due to the death of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha, the by-election in Odisha’s Padampur seat became necessary. Ten candidates are trying their luck in this by-election. The Padampur bypoll assumes significance in the wake of the BJD’s defeat in Dhamnagar, the party’s first such defeat since 2009. Its results will also indicate whether the popularity level of BJD has decreased before the assembly elections to be held in Odisha in 2024. The BJD has fielded late MLA Bariha’s daughter Varsha from this seat, who is facing challenge from former BJP MLA Pradeep Purohit and Congress candidate and three-time MLA Satya Bhushan Sahu.
By-election on Bhanupratappur seat of Chhattisgarh
The bypoll to the Bhanupratappur seat, reserved for Scheduled Tribes in Chhattisgarh’s Naxal-affected Kanker, was necessitated by the death of Congress MLA and Deputy Speaker of the Assembly Manoj Singh Mandavi last month. At least seven candidates are in the fray for this seat. However, a direct contest between the ruling Congress and the BJP is being considered here.
The Congress has reposed faith in late MLA Mandavi’s wife Savitri Mandavi, while former MLA Brahmanand Netam is the BJP candidate. Sarva Adivasi Samaj, an organization of tribal communities in Bastar, has fielded former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Akbar Ram Korram, who is contesting as an independent. Korram retired as Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in 2020.
By-election on Kurhani assembly seat of Bihar
The victory of Janata Dal United (JDU) candidate Manoj Singh Kushwaha in Bihar’s Kurhani assembly constituency will strengthen the position of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The by-election on this seat was necessitated due to the disqualification of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Anil Kumar Sahni.
