UP by-polls 2024: First major test for Yogi ahead of 2027; all about 10 seats up for grabs  

The Election Commission (EC) is yet to release the schedule for by-polls in the 10 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, where the Congress-Samajwadi Party stunned the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha elections. After a massive jolt in the general elections, the ruling party is under huge pressure to regain its hold while the opposition would want to continue the momentum ahead of the assembly polls.     

The Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress have announced they will contest under the INDIA bloc. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has also begun its preparations. The seats fell vacant after nine assembly members including SP chief Akhilesh Yadav were elected to Lok Sabha, while SP MLA from Sisamau MLA Irfan Solanki of Kanpur was disqualified after he was sentenced to jail in a criminal case. 

Of the ten seats that have fallen vacant, five were won by the Samajwadi Party in 2022 while one seat was bagged by the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which was then in alliance with the SP. The RLD is currently part of the NDA. The BJP had won three seats and one seat went to its ally Nishad Party.

The Samajwadi Party held Milkipur (Ayodhya), Karhal (Mainpuri), Katehari (Ambedkar Nagar), and Kundarki (Moradabad). Awadhesh Prasad, who stunned the BJP by winning the Ayodhya Lok Sabha seat, was the MLA from Milkipur. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had bagged Karhal.  

The BJP held Ghaziabad, Phulpur, and Khair assembly seats. The saffron party's three MLAs won the Lok Sabha elections and will now move to Delhi. 

The BJP will go all out to retain these seats and add a few more to boost the morale of its cadre ahead of the next big elections in 2027 when the political fate of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be decided.  

PTI reported that while the SP and the Congress have expressed confidence that they will continue their winning streak, the BJP is also preparing to do "something special" in the by-elections to increase its "credibility". BJP's state media in-charge Manish Dixit said the NDA will contest the assembly by-elections with full strength. 

"There is no pressure anywhere, rather the NDA will fight the assembly by-elections with full strength. BJP workers are always ready for public service and elections," he said, adding that the party will fight the elections will all its might and the result will be a special achievement. 

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief spokesperson and national secretary Rajendra Chaudhary said preparations for by-elections had been started on all the vacant seats and in alliance with the Congress party. "The committee formed for management in the Lok Sabha elections is preparing for these 10 seats and national president Akhilesh Yadav will form a new committee for this after the Parliament session," he said. 

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the INDIA bloc won 43 seats out of 80 in the state, with 37 seats going to the SP and six seats to Congress. On the other hand, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party won 33 seats while its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal won two and Apna Dal (S) got one seat. The BSP did not open its account in this election. The BJP and its allies won 73 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 and 64 seats in 2019. 

In the 2022 assembly elections, the BJP won a total of 273 seats with its allies. In the 403-member House, the BJP has 249, its ally Apna Dal (S) has 13, Rashtriya Lok Dal has eight, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party has six, and Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) has five members. 

The main opposition SP has 103 members and Congress has two members. Apart from this, there are two members of the Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) and one member of the Bahujan Samaj Party. In the by-elections to four assembly constituencies held along with the Lok Sabha elections, two seats each were won by the SP and the BJP, but these MLAs have not taken oath yet. 

The MLAs from the NDA who were elected to Lok Sabha are -- Rashtriya Lok Dal's Chandan Chauhan, BJP's Atul Garg, Anoop Valmiki and Praveen Patel, Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal's (NISHAD) Vinod Kumar Bin. SP's Akhilesh Yadav along with party MLAs Ziaur Rahman, Lalji Verma, and Awadhesh Prasad have been elected to Lok Sabha.

As per the procedure, by-elections can be held on these seats within six months. 

(With inputs from PTI)