Mayawati played the same trick as Akhilesh in Phulpur - fielded candidates

UP BY Election: The political chessboard is being laid out for the by-elections to be held on 10 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh. BSP chief Mayawati, who usually keeps a distance from by-elections, has decided to try her luck this time and has revealed her cards. Mayawati has given the green signal to tickets on 6 out of 10 seats of UP by-election. The BSP chief has bet on an old face on the Milkipur seat of Ayodhya district, while on the Meerapur seat, a close aide of Chandrashekhar Azad has been made the candidate. Not only this, on the Phulpur seat, Mayawati has used the formula of Akhilesh Yadav which ran in 2024 and has fielded a leader from Congress on the Katehari seat.

The ten seats in UP where by-elections are to be held include Milkipur, Sisamau, Katehari, Sisamau, Kundarki, Ghaziabad, Phulpur, Majhwa, Khair and Meerapur assembly seats. Of these, five seats were occupied by SP MLAs and three seats were occupied by BJP. Apart from this, Nishad Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal had one MLA each. In 2024, the seats have become vacant due to the election of 9 MLAs as Lok Sabha MPs, while by-elections are to be held due to Irfan Solanki, who was an MLA from Kanpur Sisamau seat, being sentenced by the court. The by-elections to be held on these 10 seats are being considered as a trailer of the 2027 assembly elections, due to which Mayawati is also trying her luck.

Mayawati fielded candidates on these seats

BSP chief Mayawati has fielded Ram Gopal Kori from Milkipur assembly seat of Ayodhya and has bet on Amit Verma from Katehari assembly seat of Ambedkarnagar. Apart from this, BSP has fielded Shivbaran Pasi from Phulpur assembly seat and has given ticket to Shah Nazar from Meerapur seat of Muzaffarnagar. All these four leaders had met Mayawati, after which their candidature has been approved in the by-election. Apart from this, the names of candidates have been announced for Majhwa seat of Mirzapur and Sisamau seat of Kanpur.

BSP has made the contest interesting by fielding Dalit candidates from Milkipur and Phulpur assembly seats. Now, with Dalit candidates in the fray, there can be a competition to woo the Dalit vote bank on both the seats. Apart from this, Muslims have played the bet on Meerapur assembly seat and Kurmis have played the bet on Katehari seat, making the contest on both the seats tough.

BSP's Akhilesh bet on Phulpur seat

The way Akhilesh Yadav had fielded Dalit candidates on Faizabad and Meerut general seats in the Lok Sabha elections, Mayawati has used the same formula in the Phulpur by-election. BSP has fielded Shivbaran Pasi, who comes from the Dalit community, on the Phulpur seat. Phulpur assembly is an unreserved seat. BSP's chief sector in-charge Ghanshyam Chandra Kharwar said that Shivbaran Pasi will be the party's authorized candidate in the by-election. SP's political experiment was a hit in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. SP was successful in winning the Faizabad seat and had to face defeat by a small margin of votes on the Meerut seat. In such a situation, BSP chief Mayawati has played the bet of winning the Phulpur seat by doing the Akhilesh experiment in the by-election.

BSP bets on Kori for Milkipur seat

Mayawati has fielded Ram Gopal Kori from Milkipur seat of Ayodhya. Ram Gopal Kori has contested from Milkipur seat in 2017. Then he got 46,000 votes and was in third place. In the 2017 elections, BJP's Gorakhnath Baba was elected and he defeated SP's Awadhesh Prasad. In the 2022 assembly elections, SP's Awadhesh Prasad has settled his account by defeating Gorakhnath Baba. In the Lok Sabha elections, Samajwadi Party made Awadhesh Prasad a candidate from Faizabad seat and he won. This seat has become vacant due to Awadhesh Prasad becoming an MP, after which Mayawati has bet on Ram Gopal Kori, who comes from Kori community, because SP and BJP are trying to field a leader of Pasi community from here.

Trust on Chandrashekhar's close aide for Meerapur seat

BSP has fielded Shah Nazar as its candidate for Meerapur assembly seat in Muzaffarnagar district. Shah Nazar is considered close to Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad and was associated with Azad Samaj Party, whom Mayawati has joined and has fielded from Meerapur seat. Shah Nazar has been the District Panchayat President of Muzaffarnagar. In this way, BSP has made a big political move by fielding a Muslim candidate on Meerapur seat, because there are about 1.25 lakh Muslim voters on this seat. Chandrashekhar has also fielded a Muslim candidate on this seat. This seat has fallen vacant due to RLD MLA Chandan Chauhan being elected as MP. In 2012, BSP was successful in winning this seat with the help of Dalit and Muslim equation and has tried the same move again.

BSP fielded Kurmi candidate on Katehari seat

BSP has appointed Amit Verma as its election in-charge from Katehari assembly seat of Ambedkarnagar, who is sure to be its candidate for the by-election. In such a situation, it is believed that Amit Verma's ticket from Katehari assembly seat is final. Amit Verma met BSP supremo Mayawati along with state president Vishwanath Pal, after which his name was approved. Amit Verma comes from the Kurmi community of OBC and has left Congress and joined BSP. This seat has fallen vacant due to Lalji Verma being elected MP. Lalji Verma comes from the Kurmi community and has been an MLA from BSP to SP. Mayawati has played a bet on Amit Verma in order to create a Kurmi and Dalit equation.

BSP's Brahmin card on Majhwa seat

Mayawati has played the Brahmin card on Majhwa assembly seat of Mirzapur district. BSP has made Deepu Tiwari in-charge of Majhwa seat. It is believed that his ticket is final. The number of Brahmin community in Majhwa assembly constituency is very important and it has played a decisive role in elections many times. Keeping this equation in mind, BSP has made a bet. Preparations are on to win the Majhwa seat again with the help of Dalit-Brahmin equation. Deepu Tiwari has left SP and joined BSP and has been the president of the student union. In this way, his hold is considered strong.

Dalit bet also played on Sisamau seat

BSP has made BR Ahirwar the candidate for Sisamau assembly seat of Kanpur. Sisamau assembly is a general seat. Mayawati has made a big political bet by fielding a Dalit candidate on the unreserved seat. BR Ahirwar is an old leader of BSP and has contested the 2024 election from Misrikh Lok Sabha seat. Now Mayawati has made him a candidate in the by-election. In this way, Mayawati has given a political message to her core vote bank as well as the party leaders.