Facing a straight fight with SP, BJP fields heavyweights to campaign in Gola Gokarannath bypoll

Taking no chances in the low-profile contest, the BJP has deployed a number of ministers to campaign for Aman.

UP Cabinet minister Suresh Kumar Khanna and state MoS Baldev Singh Olakh are camping in the constituency, addressing public meetings and taking part in door-to-door campaigns. Suresh Rahi and Satish Sharma, both UP ministers of State, are also campaigning there.

BJP state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and deputy CM Brajesh Pathak have already campaigned in the constituency, as has Union MoS Kaushal Kishore.

Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya will also campaign for Giri on October 28, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath scheduled to address a public rally, on November 1, the last day of campaigning.

Significantly, the BJP’s local MP and Union minister Ajay Mishra is staying away from the Gola Gokarannath campaign. A BJP leader in Kheri said, “The party has engaged Mishra in Gujarat elections. He is busy there.”

Local SP leaders are hopeful the party national president Akhilesh Yadav will turn up for the campaign before canvassing concludes. District president Rampal Singh Yadav said the SP state president Naresh Uttam and various leaders of the party were already canvassing for Tiwari. He added that Akhilesh has not campaigned yet, but he could turn up in the coming days. Akhilesh is camping in his home village of Saifai, performing rituals in the memory of his father and SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, who passed away recently.

“Large parts of the constituency were affected by floods. In the campaign, we are raising the failure of the BJP government in providing relief to people in affected areas as a big issue,” Rampal said.

According to BJP sources, the party fielded Aman to encash sympathy for him. “His father Arvind Giri had developed a very good reputation in the constituency, and was elected MLA for five terms. People have strong sympathy for his family after his death. It could be an advantage in these polls,” said a BJP leader in Lakhimpur Kheri.

A law graduate, this bypoll will be Aman’s entry into politics. He had earlier accompanied his father in political activities and handled his election management in the 2022 polls, but was not active in the BJP, the sources said.

His father Arvind Giri was elected MLA in the 2022 and 2017 elections as a BJP nominee. Earlier, he was elected MLA on the SP ticket for three terms, in 1996, 2002 and 2007, from the Haiderabad seat that was renamed Gola Gokarannath after delimitation. In 2012, he contested on a Congress ticket but lost. He later joined the BJP.

SP’s Vinay Tiwari, 52, had won the seat in 2012. Although SP reposed trust in Tiwari in 2017 and 2022, he lost both elections to Arvind Giri.

Sources said Gola Gokarannath has a mixed population of different castes, but Kurmi (OBC) and Muslims dominate the constituency.

A Congress leader said, “It was the decision of the party’s central leadership to not field a candidate in this bypoll. The party has directed to focus on preparations for the forthcoming urban local body elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.”

A BSP leader echoed similar concerns. “Assembly bypolls are mostly won by the ruling party. In view of the current political situation in UP, it is better to focus on preparations for the urban local body elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.”

It may be noted that the BSP had received more votes than the Congress in the past few polls. Its vote share was 28.35 per cent in 2012, 20.8 per cent in 2017 and 10.37 per cent in 2022 polls. In 2022, Congress got only 1.33 per cent votes.

Counting of votes for the bypoll will be done on November 6. There are over 3.96 lakh voters in the constituency, with the BJP gaining 48.67 per cent of the total votes polled in the 2022 elections.