The Bharatiya Janata Party is set to hold a key meeting on Monday to finalise candidates and discuss the seat-sharing formula with NDA allies for the upcoming bypolls in Uttar Pradesh.
The party has prepared a panel of 27 potential candidates for nine of the seats and final approval is likely to take place soon.
The bypolls will be held in Katehari (Ambedkarnagar), Karhal (Mainpuri), Milkipur (Ayodhya), Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar), Ghaziabad, Majhawan (Mirzapur), Sisamau (Kanpur Nagar), Khair (Aligarh), Phulpur (Prayagraj), and Kundarki (Moradabad).
While the saffron party has left one seat for the Rashtriya Lok Dal, Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad has demanded to contest from the seats of Katehari and Majhawan.
Nishad had openly expressed the willingness for the party to contest on two seats but BJP high command has clearly indicated that it will give the Manjhwa seat but on the condition that the contest will be fought on BJP's symbol.
Nishad has not agreed to the condition saying without the party's symbol, workers won't mobilise and assert the party's right over the two seats.
He has refused to compromise "at least" on the Manjhwa seat saying what is the point in staying in the alliance if they don't get the seat.
With the RLD camp, the BJP is ready to leave the Mirapur seat but is reluctant to part with the Khair seat, despite RLD's demand, reported India Today.
The Monday meeting will be attended by senior BJP leaders including UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, and the party’s organisational general secretary Dharampal Singh.
The dates for the byelections are yet to be announced by the Election Commission of India with voting expected to take place in November.
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party has already announced candidates for six of the 10 seats. Tej Pratap Yadav has been fielded from Karhal, Nasim Solanki from Sisamau, Ajit Prasad from Milkipur, Mustafa Siddiqi from Phulpur, Shobhawati Verma from Katehari, and Dr. Jyoti Bind from Majhwan. The remaining four seats have been left for ally partner Congress.