UP: Congress out of the fray, bypolls an acid test for SP

While the SP is trying to rope in the Congress’ prominent leaders, especially Dalit faces, for campaigning, all eyes are set on how much support it is able to garner on seats among predominantly Dalit and non-Yadav OBC population, particularly on the Lok Sabha seats of Katehari, Phulpur and Majhawan, which are represented by it but were won by the BJP and its ally in the past.

“The Congress is offering support, wherever it is being asked for. Recently, the SP invited our MP Tanuj Punia for campaigning in Ghaziabad and he obliged. Then, on Katehari seat, our vice-president Keshav ji (Keshav Chand) was requested to chip in. Similarly, our Allahabad MP Ujjwal Raman Singh has been called for campaigning in Phulpur. But then it is they who are contesting and we are only providing the support asked for,” said a Congress leader.

While the Congress leaders claim the SP got Dalit votes in the Lok Sabha elections because of its alliance with their party, the ally party leaders claim that they have been able to consolidate the Dalit and OBC votes because of Akhilesh Yadav’s “PDA” (Pichhda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak) formula.

For instance, the Katehari seat, which has a sizeable Dalit and Nishad population and was once a stronghold of the Bahujan Samaj Party, was won by the SP in 2022 after BSP leader Lalji Verma joined the main Opposition party.

The seat fell vacant after Verma was elected as MP.

While the SP has given ticket to Lalji’s wife Shobhawati Verma, the BJP has fielded Dharmraj Nishad, a Nishad community face. The BSP, on the other hand, has fielded former Congress district president Amit Verma from the constituency.

This time, the SP candidate will face a close fight on the seat with the shift of Dalit and OBC votes being a deciding factor. Similarly, in Phulpur, the SP has fielded Mohd Mujtaba Siddiqui, a Muslim candidate, while hoping to consolidate the voters from the minority community, OBC and Dalits, the BJP has fielded Deepak Patel.

From the Majhwan seat, which was won by BJP’s alliance partner NISHAD party in 2022, the ruling party has fielded its own candidate (Suchismita Maurya) this time. The SP has given ticket to Jyoti Bind, a Bind community face, from the constituency. Binds are considered as the “most backward class” in the region.

Both the Congress and the SP leaders admit that even as it is a by-election, the results of the polls would decide the future contours of the alliance in the state in the run-up to the 2027 Assembly elections.