Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party has announced that it would declare its own candidate for the Kairana bypolls, which is being seen as a test of the much-touted opposition unity in Uttar Pradesh.
The decision was taken at a meeting called by party supremo Akhilesh Yadav. It is being viewed as a signal to RLD to take a step back and not be adamant about fielding Jayant Chaudhary, son of party chief Ajit Chaudhary, for the bypoll.
The nomination process for the bypoll, to be held on May 28, started on Thursday. The opposition and the BJP are locked in a fierce battle over it as victory would give bragging rights in the run-up to 2019.
Samajwadi Party Spokesperson Sunil Singh Sajan rubbished the rumours that SP would not field a candidate and instead offer support to the RLD nominee. The reluctance to announce a joint candidate stems from what unfolded during the Rajya Sabha election in March this year.
RLD’s sole MLA in the UP Assembly had voted for BJP instead of BSP despite the understanding and the BSP candidate had lost out. Although the MLA, Sahendra Singh, was booted out from RLD, it is clear that SP is in no mood to rely on RLD again.
Sajan said the SP was a natural claimant to the seat as they were runner up in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The Kairana Parliamentary seat went vacant after BJP MP Hukum Singh died recently after a prolonged illness.
“Samajwadi Party was the runner up in Kairana in 2014, so naturally we are the eligible claimants. Right now the name of the candidate has not been decided but that will be decided soon by the party leadership,” he said.
“At present SP and BSP are in a mutual understanding and some BJP people are spreading that there is no alliance. I guess they are scared by their defeat in Gorakhpur and Phulpur. We are very much in alliance and understanding with BSP is firm at the moment,” he asked.
In a not-so-subtle hint to RLD to withdraw its candidate, he said that if the other parties are really interested in defeating BJP or “saving the Constitution”, they would support the SP candidate.
In the 2017 Assembly polls, RLD candidates stood third in Thana Bhawan, Shamli and Kairana, fifth in Gangoh and eighth in Nakur, the five assembly segments which comprise the Kairana Lok Sabha seat. Even their combined votes were less than BSP and SP separately.
Meanwhile, sources suggest that BJP might field Mriganka Singh, daughter of late BJP MP Hukum Singh in an attempt to garner sympathy votes. Mriganka had lost to SP’s Nahid Hasan by more than 21 thousand votes in 2017 State Assembly Elections.
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