ANI
By-election is being held in Kundarki due to Ziaur Rahman Burke, who won from SP, becoming MP from Sambhal in 2022. Due to the absence of any industry in the Muslim majority area (about 62 percent Muslim voters), the majority of the population is dependent on farming.
Lucknow. Elections are to be held on nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, out of which SP and BJP have not yet announced the names of their candidates for Kundarki assembly seat. This seat has always been a profitable deal for SP. SP easily wins the elections here with the help of Muslim votes, but this time BJP is trying to ensure its victory with the help of fragmentation among Muslim voters. The path to Kundarki assembly seat, considered a SP stronghold, has always been rocky for the BJP since 1993. Lotus could bloom here only in 1993. Since 2012, the cycle has been running in three consecutive elections. BSP, which is contesting the by-election after a long time, has declared Rafatalla alias Neta Chhidda as its candidate. BSP has fielded a Muslim candidate while Azad Samaj Party (ASP) has fielded Chand Babu. On Kundarki seat, SP has not yet opened its cards i.e. has not declared the ticket. There is strong hope of former SP MLA Haji Rizwan contesting the elections, while Owaisi’s party AIMIM has fielded Mohammad Waris from here. In this way, Muslim candidates from four opposition parties are in the fray, due to which the contest has become Muslim versus Muslim for Kundarki seat. BJP has not announced the tickets yet. SP and BJP are in the mood to announce the name of their candidate after all the cards are laid out. In Kundarki, BJP is preparing to reverse history by using the power of double engine government, it is also busy in breaking into Muslim votes. Whereas SP is again hoping to cross the electoral hurdle with the help of MY (Muslim Yadav) equation.
By-election is being held in Kundarki due to Ziaur Rahman Barke, who won from SP, becoming MP from Sambhal in 2022. Due to the absence of any industry in the Muslim majority area (about 62 percent Muslim voters), the majority of the population is dependent on farming. Here voting has been taking place only on the basis of caste equation. This is the reason why only Muslims have been becoming MLAs since 1996. Although this has been a traditional seat of SP, BSP has also won twice with the help of the alliance of Muslims and Scheduled Castes. Hussain has also been a BSP minister in 2007. SP has not announced the name from Kundarki seat. In SP, many stalwarts including former MLA Haji Rizwan and MP Ziaur Rahman Burke’s father Mamluqur Rahman Burke are in line for the ticket. In BJP, Ramveer Singh, Kamal Prajapati and District Panchayat President Dr. Shafali Singh are trying hard to enter the fray. While SP is confident of victory due to Muslim majority, BJP seems confident of victory due to the deduction of about 15 thousand fake votes and infiltration among Muslims.
