Why bypoll to 3 Lok Sabha seats is important
The bypoll for three Lok Sabha seats will be held on June 23. The three hot seats where the contest will be held are Rampur and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh and Sangrur in Punjab.
While Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP) faces a big test in Rampur and Azamgarh, Bhagwant Mann’s Sangrur seat will also be very important for the newly-elected AAP government in Punjab.
Polling on these three seats and seven assembly seats will be on June 23, while the counting of votes will be on June 27.
Here is all you need to know about these three seats :
1. THE BATTLE OF RAMPUR
The bypoll in Rampur is going to be high pitched as the seat is the stronghold of SP’s senior leader Azam Khan. It was Khan who had won the seat in 2019 Lok Sabha poll defeating BJP’s Jaya Prada. Khan had defeated Prada by 1,09, 997 votes.
Why it’s a hot seat: In Rampur, it is a battle of prestige for Khan, who had been in jail for more than two years and was out on bail recently. SP has pitched Khan’s trusted man Asim Raja from the seat against BJP’s Ghanshyam Lodhi, who is a former SP MLC and also once a close man of Khan.
The constituency has large presence of Yadavs, Muslims and Jats. In Lodhi, BJP decided to go with an OBC face. Moreover, since BSP and Congress decided to not field any candidate from this seat, it will be a direct contest between SP and BJP.
Who has the edge: Rampur has been a strong bastion of Khan, and he has been elected 10 times from here in assembly polls. It will indeed be an uphill task for the BJP to secure a win here. But a strong contest is definitely expected between the two candidates.
2. AZAMGARH CONTEST
In the Azamgarh byelection, Akhilesh, who won the seat in 2019, has pitched his cousin Dharmendra Yadav. BJP, on the other hand has repeated its 2019 candidate, popular Bhojpuri star Dinesh Lal Yadav also known as Nirahua.
Why it’s important seat: Akhilesh won the Lok Sabha poll from this seat comfortably. But this time, amidst the Modi wave and strong word-of-mouth for Yogi Adityanath government, BJP can pose strong challenge to Dharmendra Yadav.
Who has an edge: Azamgarh is part of Yadav strong bastions which the party swept in 2022 UP assembly elections. SP won all the ten seats in the region.
Azamgarh was one of the few districts after Ambedkar Nagar and Ghazipur where the SP won comprehensively while it had to bite the dust in other regions. It will be quite difficult for BJP to wrest this seat from the SP.
3. THE SANGRUR SEAT
The bypoll in Sangrur seat has 16 candidates in line. The seat fell vacant after Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann won the Punjab assembly election from the Dhuri seat. While AAP has pitched Gurmail Singh, AAP’s district unit incharge, Congress has pitched Dalvir Singh Goldy Khangura.
Why it’s crucial: The seat has number of candidates in line. It will also be test of AAP government’s performance in Punjab, especially on law and order situation which saw a dip after the assassination of Punjabi singer Siddhu Moosewala.
Who has an edge? Bhagwant Mann won the seat twice:in 2014 and in 2019. It was Sangrur seat that was retained by AAP in 2019 while the party lost the other three seats which it won in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Before Mann, it was Congress which had its hold on the seat. In 2009, Congress won the seat. Overall, in Sangrur, AAP has strong chances of winning the seat.