UP Bypoll Concludes With Faceoff Between SP And BJP, Akhilesh Claims Cop Threatened Locals From Voting

Akhilesh Yadav has claimed that voters in Meerapur were stopped from voting by the SHO in the Kakrauli police station area.

The bypolls in Uttar Pradesh saw a fierce political faceoff between the ruling BJP and the main opposition Samajwadi Party during the ongoing polling in nine assembly seats.

While SP chief Akhilesh Yadav blamed the UP police for threatening the voters in a bid to stop them from voting, the BJP claimed that the SP workers are engaged in hooliganism and bogus voting with women and men donning burqa.

Akhilesh Yadav has claimed that voters in Meerapur were stopped from voting by the SHO in the Kakrauli police station area. "Election Commission should immediately suspend SHO of Kakarwali police station area of ​​Meerapur because he is stopping voters from casting their votes by threatening them with a revolver," Akhilesh said in a post on X. 

Yadav said his party had lodged complaints with the Election Commission (EC) regarding irregularities in multiple constituencies, including Karhal, Sisamau, Meerapur, Kundarki, Phulpur, and Majhawan.

The SP chief also slammed the BJP over violation of the EC's guidelines on checking voter IDs and for obstructing people from casting their ballots. 

The Election Commission has taken action against 10 policemen and at least four cops on poll duty were suspended in Kanpur and Muzaffarnagar for violating its guidelines. The nine seats in Uttar Pradesh saw around 49.3 per cent voters voting on Wednesday with Ghaziabad logging just 33 per cent. The seats which went to polling include Katehari, Karhal, Mirapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur and Kundarki. UP had registered an overall turnout of 61.03 per cent in the 2022 assembly polls. 

Meanwhile, a 23-year-old Dalit woman's body found in a sack in Karhal constituency this morning sparked a political storm after the victim's family alleged that a local Samajwadi Party worker had been pressuring her against voting for BJP in the bypolls being held today. 

The BJP has launched a scathing attack on the Samajwadi Party over the woman's death. 

"At Karhal in Mainpuri district, Samajwadi Party's Prashant Yadav and his aides brutally murdered a Dalit daughter only because she refused to vote for 'cycle'," state BJP chief Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary said in a post on X.

Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary also accused Samajwadi Party workers of engaging in hooliganism during the by-elections. He claimed that SP supporters were attempting to influence the polls by bringing in outsiders and anti-social elements, alleging that women wearing burqas were participating in bogus voting.

While Ghaziabad saw a turnout of 33.3 per cent, Katehari registered 56.9 per cent voting), Khair 46.3, Kundarki 57.7, Karhal 54.1, Majhawan 50.41, Meerapur 57.1, Phulpur 43.43 and Shisamau 49.1.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission, acting on complaints by the Samajwadi Party, has ordered the suspension of police personnel for violating its guidelines on checking of voters and stopping them from casting votes in the bypolls.

In Moradabad, an unknown number of personnel on traffic duty were shunted, officials said. The Samajwadi Party claimed that in some places the police personnel were checking the IDs of people and deterring them from voting.

The BJP has also sought the intervention of the EC for checking identity of burqa-wearing women voters, claiming their IDs did not match with their faces.

While eight seats fell vacant following the incumbent MLAs' election to the Lok Sabha, polling in Sisamau is being conducted due to Samajwadi Party lawmaker Irfan Solanki's disqualification from the assembly after his conviction in a criminal case. This is the first electoral contest in the state after the Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress is not contesting these bypolls and has lent support to the Samajwadi Party. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is contesting on all nine seats solo.

The results of the bypolls, however, will not have any impact on the health of the BJP-led  state government.At present, the BJP has 251 members in the 403-member House followed by the Samajwadi Party's 105. Among BJP allies, Apna Dal (Sonelal) has 13 MLAs, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) eight, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) six and the NISHAD party five. The Congress and the Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) have two MLAs each and the BSP has one.