The bypolls which are to be conducted for the eight vacant seats in Uttar Pradesh is being considered as a significant litmus test before the UP Assembly Elections in 2022.
The political activity of the opposition parties has also intensified in the state ahead of announcement of dates for bypolls. Out of the eight assembly seats which will go through bypolls in UP, six are in the possession of Bharatiya Janata Party and two are held by Samajwadi Party.
Though the results of these eight seats will not affect the majority in the assembly, there will be a big political message for the upcoming assembly elections. The by elections are also being seen somewhat as a semifinal before the state assembly polls.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic is going to be the biggest challenge for any political party in these bypolls when establishing a direct dialogue with the public is going to be a serious challenge.
As such, the party leaders are busy strategizing moves to reach out to the public. Social media has been the primary tool for many opposition leaders who have lashed out at the Adityanath-led government. Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav has hit out at the government over rising crimes on Twitter, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and state party Chief Ajay Kumar Lallu have also been aggressive on several issues lately. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has also attacked the government through Twitter.
Speaking to News18, Samajwadi Party leader and MLC Sunil Kumar Sajan said the Yogi government failed on all the major fronts.
“Corruption during the coronavirus pandemic is now being exposed. The government has no answer on issues like development, unemployment, collapsing law and order in the state. The government does not have a single job to show. They have been inaugurating the work done during the SP tenure and we will go to the public on these issues. We are continuously working towards strengthening the organization. Workers up to the booth level are working hard, and we will contest and win the by-elections with the help of our booth level workers.”
Elsewhere, the Congress party hasn’t held back punches either. State Congress Committee Chief Ajay Kumar Lallu has also been working on ground in many different regions in the state.
At the same time, UP in-charge and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi is constantly making her presence felt by tweeting on various incidents from Uttar Pradesh.
Speaking to News18, Congress leader Surendra Rajput said, “The team of Congress party is being restructured. Our committees are in electoral mode. The Congress workers are on road and are exposing this government on its fallacies. Former MLAs are being killed. The Unnao incident has made it clear how the officers are seen standing with the culprits. Everything is happening under the patronage of the Yogi Adityanath government. The farmers are not getting paid for their dues, the youth is not getting employment. This government has proved to be completely inept and we will go into the by-elections with all these issues.”
However, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is quite confident about its performance and has claimed that opposition parties are only active on Twitter.
Speaking to News18, BJP State Vice President Vijay Bahadur Pathak said, “The BJP government and organizations are continuously working, while the opposition is doing the politics of Twitter. The opposition’s job is to criticize, they are doing just that. Be it the matter of giving money to the poor in their bank account or sending money to the account of the farmers or even giving food to the poor, the BJP has been constantly communicating with the people even during the coronavirus pandemic.”
“We are in constant touch with the workers through digital medium and we are updated on the public’s needs. We are still training our workers on how to take care of the public’s interest and work. In such a situation, the public understands everything and we are preparing to win the by-election.”
The Tundla seat of Firozabad got vacant after the resignation of BJP’s SP Baghel after being elected as MP. Abdullah Azam, son of Samajwadi Party MP Azam Khan, won from Swar seat of Rampur, but his membership was cancelled by the High Court after the dispute related to his date of birth.
Meanwhile, BJP’s Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s seat Bangarmau of Unnao has been vacant since his membership was cancelled after he was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Unnao rape case.
Apart from this, after the demise of Parasnath Yadav of Samajwadi Party, the Malhani assembly seat of Jaunpur fell vacant. The seats of BJP’s Janmejaya Singh from Deoria Sadar and Virender Sirohi from Bulandshahar are also vacant due to their deaths, while Ghatampur seat of Kanpur has been vacant since the death of BJP’s Kamal Rani Varun who recently died after being tested positive for Covid-19 infection.
The Naagwaman seat in Amroha went vacant after BJP’s Chetan Chauhan died due to coronavirus infection.
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