BSP identifies 8 Independents to back in UP bypolls

Party sources said that BSP workers have been asked to vote for former MLC SP Singh, contesting from Lucknow East.

More than a week after Mayawati asked BSP workers to vote for select Independent candidates in the by-elections on 11 Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat on September 13, party leaders are struggling to find out suitable Independents who could be backed.

Even as BSP leaders have identified Independent candidates on eight seats, namely Rohaniya, Noida, Saharanpur, Thakurdwara, Balha, Lucknow East, Sirathu and Hamirpur, they have not been able to choose suitable candidates in the Assembly seats of Nighasan, Bijnor, Charkhari and the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, where party leaders say all Independents are either helping a mainstream party’s candidate or are their dummies.

Party sources said that BSP workers have been asked to vote for former MLC SP Singh, contesting from Lucknow East. Singh, an accused in the murder of his partner CP Singh, was acquitted in July this year. His wife Kanti Singh is currently an MLC.

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The party has also decided to support Ramakant Singh in Rohaniya Assembly constituency. According to a party leader, Ramakant had been associated with the party and had contested the last Assembly polls from the same seat as a BSP candidate. He had finished second with over 40,000 votes.

“No party leader or worker will campaign for them or endorse them. We have only told the workers to vote for these candidates. This is not actually samarthan (support), this is just sahyog (assistance),” a leader said, requesting anonymity.

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