Uttar Pradesh: Bypolls crucial test for Samajwadi Party, BJP

The byelections to two Assembly segments in Uttar Pradesh next month are proving to be crucial for the Samajwadi Party which held both the seats and also the Bharatiya Janata Party which is determined to position itself as a viable alternative to the ruling party.

Byelections to Jangipura Assembly segment in Ghazipur district and Bilari Assembly seat in Moradabad are scheduled to be held on May 16.

The Jangipura seat fell vacant following the death of minister for panchayati raj Kailash Yadav while the Bilari seat was vacated when sitting SP MLA Mohammed Irfan died in a road accident last month.

The Samajwadi Party, which is still smarting at the defeat of byelections on two Assembly seats in February this year, is keen to win both its seats this time and reassert its position in state politics.

In the February byelections to Bikapur, Muzaffarnagar and Deoband, the SP could retain only the Bikapur seat while the BJP won the Muzaffarnagar seat and the Congress wrested the Deoband seat. Earlier, the party had lost the Vishwanathganj seat in Pratapgarh in the byelection.

“We have learnt that we cannot be complacent any longer and the byelections to Jangipura and Bilari are a matter of prestige for us. We will make sure that the seats remain with the party at all costs,” said a senior party functionary.

According to sources, to cash in on the sympathy factor, the SP will be fielding Kismati Devi Yadav, wife of late Kailash Yadav who held the seat, in Jangipura.

In Bilari, the party is all set to field Mohammed Fahim, son of the deceased MLA Mohammed Irfan.

The BJP, on the other hand, feels that these byelections could set the tone for its revival in UP. The party, which aims at forming the next government in the state, wants to script its success story with these byelections.

Moreover, these bypolls will be seen as a litmus test for newly-appointed state president Keshav Maurya who is working on Mission 265 plus. “We will keep all equations in mind while selecting candidates for these two seats,” said BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak because this could b the last byelections before the Assembly elections which are due early next year. Our workers are determined to wrest both the seats and herald our return to power next year,” said BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak.

The Bahujan Samaj Party will not be contesting the byelections since the party president Mayawati sees the byelections as a “waste of time and resources”.

The Congress is undecided about contesting the byelections.