Uttar Pradesh’s Ghosi seat fell vacant following the resignation of Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA and OBC leader Dara Singh Chauhan. He left SP and joined BJP. The ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has fielded Chauhan while SP candidate Sudhakar Singh has been backed by Congress and Left parties. Chauhan was a minister in the previous BJP government of Yogi Adityanath. He resigned from the Council of Ministers on 12 January 2022 and joined the SP.
Both parties campaigned hard for the bypoll as both parties know it is a test of opposition unity and a win could set the tone in their favor for the Lok Sabha polls next year. In the 543-member Lok Sabha, 80 MPs come from Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led the BJP. Interestingly, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav did not campaign for the by-elections held last year to the prestigious seats of Rampur and Azamgarh but he addressed an election rally in Ghosi. He said that the elections will change the politics of the country. . North Bengal’s Dhupguri assembly constituency has a triangular contest between the Trinamool Congress, the BJP and the Congress-backed Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).
Trinamool Congress won this seat in 2016 but BJP wrested this seat in 2021 elections. Chief Minister Manik Saha led the party’s campaign in Dhanpur and Boxanagar assembly seats in Tripura’s Sipahijala district. The main opposition parties Tipra Motha and Congress have stayed away. The Tripura Pradesh Congress on Sunday urged the people to vote for the candidates of the opposition alliance ‘Bharat’ on these two seats.
Tafzal Hussain, who lost as a BJP candidate in the assembly elections held in February, will contest against CPI(M)’s Mizan Hussain in the minority-dominated Boxanagar constituency. The seat is still considered a stronghold of the Left parties. Bindu Debnath of BJP is pitted against Kaushik Debnath of CPI(M) in Dhanpur, once a bastion of the Left. Additional Chief Electoral Officer UG Mog told PTI that all necessary preparations have been made to conduct free, fair and peaceful elections.
A senior police officer said the international border has been sealed to prevent any infiltration from Bangladesh as the two constituencies share a border with the neighboring country. He said adequate security arrangements have been made for peaceful polling. In Jharkhand’s Dumri seat, opposition alliance ‘India’ candidate Baby Devi is in a direct fight with NDA candidate Yashoda Devi.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has claimed that the ‘Bharat’ coalition will begin its victory from Dumri. The meeting has become a matter of prestige for both the alliances. NDA expressed confidence that it is fully prepared to wrest the seat from JMM. The opposition coalition includes Congress, Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), Trinamool Congress, JMM, Aam Aadmi Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, National Conference, People’s Democratic Party, CPI(M), Communist Party of India, Rashtriya Janata . A total of 28 parties including Dal, SP and Rashtriya Janata Dal.Lok Dal are involved.
The by-election was necessitated by the death of former education minister and JMM MLA Jagarnath Mahato in April. Mahato was representing this seat since 2004. However, the Congress and the ruling Left parties will face each other in the Puthuppalli by-election in Kerala. The opposition party in the state, the Congress, relies on the “anti-incumbency wave” and the legacy of the late Oommen Chandy. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has fielded former chief minister Oommen Chandy’s son Chandy Oommen to capitalize on the sympathy wave following his death.
On the other hand, the ruling Left parties have once again fielded DYFI leader Jack C Thomas, who contested from the constituency against the late Chandy in 2016 and 2021 but lost. BJP has fielded its Kottayam district president G Leejinlal. In Uttarakhand, there is a direct contest between BJP and Congress. The ruling BJP has fielded Parvati Das to retain this seat. Her husband Chandan Das had won the seat for four consecutive terms since 2007 and his death necessitated a by-election.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and other top BJP leaders campaigned for Das. Senior Congress leaders like Harish Rawat, State Congress Committee president Karan Mahara and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Yashpal Arya had campaigned for party candidate Basant Kumar and camped in Bageshwar for the past several days. Opposition parties announced the formation of the Indian National Development Alliance (India) in July to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Also Read-
“I will say this again and again..”: DMK leader Udhayanidhi on controversial statement on ‘Sanatana Dharma’
Explainer: Before the G-20 summit, know when and how this organization was formed, what is its function?
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by the NDTV team and is published directly from the syndicate feed.)