UP: Congress Seeks 50% Of Seats To Be Contested By INDIA Bloc In Assembly Bypolls

Congress's National Secretary and in-charge of Eastern UP, Rajesh Tiwari, said that the SP should contest on the five seats that are held by it in the state.

UP Assembly Bypolls: Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly by-elections, the Congress has sought from the Samajwadi Party five out of 10 seats to be contested by the INDIA bloc.

Speaking at Congress's organisation meeting in Prayagraj, the party's National Secretary and in-charge of Eastern UP, Rajesh Tiwari, said, that the Samjwadi Party should contest on the five seats that are held by it in the state and the remaining seats should be given to the grand old party.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the two parties, which are part of the opposition bloc INDIA, announced the in-charges of their respective parties for the UP assembly by-elections. The SP announced in-charges for six seats, while the Congress declared in-charges for all 10 assembly constituencies.

While SP national general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav will be in-charge of Katehari seat, Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad and Leader of Opposition in UP Legislative Council Lal Bihari Yadav will be in-charge of Milkipur seat, a senior SP leader said, as reported by news agency PTI. 

MP Virendra Singh has been given charge of Majhwa seat, former minister Chandradev Yadav will be in-charge of Karhal, party national general secretary and MLA Indrajeet Saroj will be in-charge of Phulpur seat, and MLA Rajendra Kumar will be in-charge of Sishamau seat, he said.

The grand old party has announced party MPs Kishori Lal Sharma, Imran Masood, Rakesh Rathore, Tanuj Punia, Ujjawal Raman Singh in-charges of Sishamau, Meerapur, Kundraki, Ghaziabad, and Phulpur seats, respectively, a party spokesperson said.

MLA Virendra Chowhdury, former minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui, former MLA Akhilesh Pratap Singh, former MLA Rajkumar Rawat, and party leader Ramnath Sikarwar got charges of Majhwan, Katehari, Milkipur, Khair, and Karhal seats, respectively, the Congress spokesperson said.

Bypolls are set to be held in 10 assembly seats -- Katehari (Ambedkar Nagar), Karhal (Mainpuri), Milkipur (Ayodhya), Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar), Ghaziabad, Majhawan (Mirzapur), Sishamau (Kanpur city), Khair (Aligarh), Phulpur (Prayagraj), and Kundarki (Moradabad).

Nine of these seats fell vacant after its MLAs were elected as MPs in the Lok Sabha polls, while bypolls are being held in the Sishamau seat due to the disqualification of SP MLA Irfan Solanki, who was convicted in a criminal case. The dates of by-elections have not been announced yet.

(With Inputs from Moin)