UP bypolls on May 10, all eyes on seat of Azam Khan’s son

In last year’s Assembly elections, Kol had won Chhanbey getting 47.29 per cent of the votes, with the Apna Dal (S) an ally of the BJP.

Abdullah Khan, who had won Suar in 2017 and followed it up with another victory last year, was disqualified as an MLA on February 15 after he was convicted by a special court along with his father in a 2008 case.

Incidentally, after the 2017 election too, Abdullah had lost his Assembly membership, after conviction on the charge of misrepresenting his age.

In October last year, Azam too had lost his membership from Rampur Sadar Assembly seat after being convicted in a hate speech case of 2019. In the bypoll held in December, the SP stronghold was won by the BJP.

Given the Rampur Sadar result, the battle for Suar is likely to be
a close and interesting one between the SP and BJP. In the 2022 polls, the BJP had left Suar for the Apna Dal (S). Abdullah had won by over 60,000 votes, increasing his 2017 victory margin (against a BJP candidate) by over 7,000 votes.

As per the schedule, the notification for the bypolls will be issued on April 13, and April 20 will be the last date to file nominations. Polling will be held on May 10 and counting on May 13.