Amid Azam Khan’s absence, all eyes on stronghold Suar bypoll as SP, Apna Dal (S) brace for keen battle

On the last day of filing of nomination Thursday, the SP named a debutant candidate Anuradha Chauhan from the Suar seat, which had fallen vacant following the disqualification of its sitting MLA Abdullah Azam Khan, the son of SP veteran Azam Khan.

The Suar by-election has high stakes for the SP as it would be contested perhaps for the first time in decades in the absence of any direct involvement of Azam Khan and his family, which seem to have kept themselves away from it despite the fact that the Rampur belt, their home turf, has all along been Azam’s bastion.

The SP leadership’s decision to field Anuradha, a Zilla Panchayat member, for the Suar bypoll has surprised many within the party. SP sources said that the party wanted either someone from the Azam Khan family or any of their close aide to contest from Suar, but they chose to distance themselves from it, even as Azam has been ailing for some time. The SP was thus forced, in a last-minute move, to pick Anuradha as its candidate.

Anuradha has been a grassroots leader, who has risen from the ranks. She had been a gram pradhan before getting elected as a Zilla Panchayat member.

In the Suar constituency, which is predominantly inhabited by people belonging to the minority Muslim community as well as Other Backward Classes (OBCs), the SP has been trying to mobilise all the communities against the BJP-led NDA’s candidate.

The Apna Dal (S) had fielded a Muslim nominee in Suar in the 2022 Assembly election against Abdullah Azam Khan, but lost. For the May 10 bypoll, the party has again given its ticket to a minority candidate, Shafiq Ahmed Ansari, who belongs to the backward class Muslim or “Pasmanda Muslim” community.

At a time, when the BJP has been making an outreach to “Pasmanda Muslims”, the nomination of Ansari, who is from a weaver community, by its ally assumes additional significance.

Despite having lost the seat to the SP in 2022, the Apna Dal (S) exudes confidence this time that it would clinch the bypoll. “There is no fight with SP this time. The fight is only for victory margin. Shafiq is the candidate of BJP-Apna Dal (S) and NISHAD party alliance and all our partners would support his candidature for a big win this time,” said Ashish Patel, an Apna Dal (S) leader and state minister, who accompanied Ansari as he filed his nomination Thursday.

Neither the BSP nor the Congress has fielded their candidate in Suar, making the bypoll a bipolar affair, with the key question doing the rounds in state political circles is whether in Azam’s absence the SP nominee can get the better of the NDA candidate.

In the SC-reserved Chhanbey constituency, the bypoll was necessitated following the death of its sitting Apna Dal (S) MLA Rahul Prakash Kol. The party has fielded the deceased legislator’s wife Rinki Kol for the bypoll, hoping to bag the seat riding on the “sympathy” factor.

The SP has again nominated Kirti Kol as its candidate in Chhanbey. Kirti had contested the seat against Rahul Prakash Kol in 2022 as well, when she had lost by over 32,000 votes.

In the Chhanbey seat, where the Kol community has a significant population, the SP is hoping that Kirti, the daughter of ex-MLA Bhai Lal Kol, would be able to trounce the Apna Dal (S)’s candidate this time. Rahul had won the seat in 2017 as well with a huge margin against the BSP candidate.

Unlike Suar, the Congress has fielded its candidate, Ajay Kumar, in Chhanbey. Locals however believe that the bypoll will see a straight fight between the NDA and SP candidates.