By Vivek Tripathi
Lucknow, Oct 18 (IANS): Even as preparations for by-elections for seven Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh are on, political analysts have pointed out that these elections before the Assembly electoral battle in 2022 would be a "crucial political test" for the ruling BJP which held six of the seven seats.
All eyes are on the bypolls which would be held amid the coronavirus crisis in the northern state, construction of the grand Ram temple at Ayodhya, and the recent Hathras and other similar crimes.
The results will reveal how different political parties fared in the public esitmation, given the votes they bag from the general public. The credibility of BJP is at stake during these elections.
The BJP has tried to play an emotional card by fielding its party workers and wives of two of its deceased MLAs on these Assembly seats. Different political equations and permutations are being tried out by all parties.
Malhani Assembly seat in Jaunpur district fell vacant due to the death of Samajwadi Party leader Paras Nath Yadav. The SP is faced with a daunting challenge to wrest this constituency from the BJP and hence nominated Lucky Yadav, son of late Paras Nath Yadav, on the SP ticket.
BJP is set to field Manoj Singh from Malhani against Lucky Yadav. The BSP and the Congress too have entered the fray by fielding Jayaprakash Dubey and Rakesh Mishra respectively.
Dhananjay Singh, a two-time MLA from Malhani, has also announced his entry, making the political fight interesting.
Bangarmau seat in Unnao district fell vacant with the disqualification of sitting BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar following his conviction and life imprisonment in the Unnao rape case.
Posing a major challenge to the BJP to retain the seat, the party has fielded former district President Srikant Katiyar. The SP's Suresh Kumar Pal, BSP's Mahesh Prasad and Congress leader Aarti Bajpai are other contenders for the Bangarmau seat.
The Tundla Assembly seat in Firozabad district fell vacant after BJP leader SP Singh Baghel, a Cabinet Minister in the Yogi government, was elected to the Lok Sabha from Agra.
The BJP has fielded Prempal Dhangar against SP's Maharaj Singh Dhangar, BSP's Sanjeev Kumar Chak, and Congress nominee Snehlata from Tundla.
Kanpur's Ghatampur (Reserve) seat fell vacant after the death of Kamal Rani Varun, a Cabinet Minister in the Yogi government. the BJP has fielded Upendra Paswan, President of its Scheduled Caste (SC) Front in Kanpur-Bundelkhand region, against SP's Indrajit Corey, Bahujan Samaj Party's Kuldeep Kumar Sankhwar and Kripa Shankar of the Congress for the Ghatampur seat.
The Deoria Sadar Assembly seat needed a bypoll due to the death of BJP MLA Janmejaya Singh. All major parties decided to field only candidates from the Brahmin community. The BJP's Satyaprakash Mani is pitted against Brahmashankar Tripathi, a Cabinet Minister in the earlier SP government, BSP's Abhaynath Tripathi and Congress' Mukund Bhaskar Mani Tripathi.
The son of late Janmejay Singh is also contesting as a BJP rebel. He could swing the votes against the BJP in this constituency.
The Bulandshahr seat got vacant due to the death of BJP MLA Veerendra Singh Sirohi. The BJP has now nominated Sarohi's wife Usha for the seat, for which the SP has tied up with the Rashtriya Lok Dal. The RLD has fielded Praveen Singh, BSP Mohammad Yunus and Congress Sushil Chaudhary.
Elections in Amroha's Naugawan Sadat Assembly seat was necessitated by to the death of former cricketer and Cabinet Minister Chetan Chauhan due to coronavirus. Here, BJP's Sangeeta Chauhan, wife of late Chetan Chauhan, is pitted against SP leader Syed Javed Abbas, BSP's Mohammad Furkan Ahmed, and Congress' Kamlesh Singh.
Senior political analyst PN Dwivedi says that the by-elections will reveal the political trend for the 2022 Assembly elections to be held in 2022. It is a challenge for the BJP to retain its Assembly seats while opposition SP, BSP and the Congress will try to wrest those seats from the ruling party.