Big News On UP Bypoll Elections; SP, Congress Form Alliance To Fight Elections Together

Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and Congress have come together to fight the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Bypolls. According to the Zee News sources, both parties have formed an alliance to take on the BJP in upcoming bye-elections. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha Polls, the Samajwadi Party-Congress Alliance dented the BJP badly with the SP-Congress together bagging 43 seats while the NDA was reduced to just 36 seats.

After a significant comeback in the recent Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, the INDIA Alliance partners, Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP), have finalized seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming by-elections for 10 assembly segments. As per the agreement, the SP will contest 7 seats and the Congress on three seats.

The two parties, which contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election as part of the opposition bloc, have confirmed their intention to continue the alliance in the future polls.

Among the 10 assembly seats going to polls, five were previously held by the SP, three by the BJP, and one each by BJP allies RLD and NISHAD Party. According to UPCC chief Ajai Rai, high-level discussions on seat sharing are ongoing, with both parties committed to contesting the bypolls together.

While the exact allotment of the seats are not known yet, senior Congress leaders are speculating that the party will seek to contest the seats formerly held by the BJP and its allies. The UP assembly declared these 10 seats vacant between June 7 and 18, and the bypolls must be held within six months of these dates.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) may schedule these bypolls concurrently with the assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra later this year.

The five seats previously held by the SP include Katehari (Ambedkar Nagar), Karhal (Mainpuri), Milkipur (Ayodhya), Kundarki (Moradabad), and Sisamau (Kanpur). Notably, Sisamau was vacated by SP MLA Irfan Solanki, who was disqualified following his conviction and a seven-year sentence in a criminal case. Katehari was vacated by SP MLA Lalji Verma, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Ambedkar Nagar. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav resigned from the Karhal (Mainpuri) assembly seat after winning the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat.