Lucknow. On the one hand, Congress seems to be in a dilemma whether to contest the by-election on 09 seats in Uttar Pradesh or not, while on the other hand, it is hoping for victory with the help of the crutch of Samajwadi Party. Congress, embroiled in this confusion, seems to be successful in putting pressure on SP. Due to pressure politics of Congress, SP has also indicated to give Phulpur Assembly seat to Congress. If this seat goes to Congress’s account, then the number of seats won by Congress will increase to three. Taking this as the basis, the leaders of both the parties are saying that the SP-Congress alliance will continue, but despite the possibility of getting three seats, there is still doubt about Congress contesting the elections. The final decision on the by-election will be taken today. Because the last date for nomination for elections is 25th October. However, it seems that on one hand, Congress is adamant about the seat agreement with SP regarding the UP by-elections, but on the other hand, it is also worried about the fear of defeat if it contests the elections. That means Congress is both adamant and scared.
Amidst SP giving Phulpur seat to Congress, Congress state president Ajay Rai and state in-charge have left for Delhi. Of the 9 seats included in the by-election, Congress had claimed to contest on five seats, but Samajwadi Party fielded candidates on seven seats including Phulpur. Congress was given only Ghaziabad and Khair assembly seats. This was also announced by SP itself. Seeing this, Congress changed its stance. Expressed displeasure while calling for alliance. A letter was also sent to the top leadership expressing dissatisfaction over getting only two seats. It was even said that Congress will not contest elections on these two seats, but the party’s state president Ajay Rai and state in-charge Avinash Pandey did not confirm this issue. Both the leaders definitely said that they are waiting for the guidelines from the top leadership. Will maintain alliance to defeat BJP. In view of the tussle regarding the by-election, the Samajwadi Party changed its stand. SP has said that it can give Phulpur seat to Congress. However, SP has announced the name of Mustafa Siddiqui as its candidate from here. Mustafa was the SP candidate in Phulpur in the 2022 elections and was defeated by just 2200 votes. In such a situation, there is a possibility of political loss if Mustafa’s name is withdrawn. In such a situation, Phulpur is not being considered favorable in the inner circle of Congress.
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On the other hand, NDA is also stuck in trouble regarding distribution of seats in the assembly by-elections. Nishad Party President Sanjay Nishad is camping in Delhi for two days to field his candidates on Majhwan and Katehri seats. Last Tuesday late night, he met BJP President JP Nadda, in which he presented his side. According to Sanjay Nishad, he is scheduled to meet BJP National General Secretary Sunil Bansal and other top leaders of the party on Wednesday. After this the list of BJP candidates is expected to be released. By-elections are to be held on nine assembly seats in the state. Out of these, Sanjay Nishad wants his party’s candidates to contest on the seats of Majhwan and Katehri, but Sanjay Nishad has also suggested that if BJP wants, it can field its candidates on both the seats, but the election symbol will be of Nishad Party only. The state BJP has not paid attention to his suggestion.
