Ending prolonged suspense that continued till the last day of nominations, the Samajwadi Party today declared Asim Raja as its candidate from Rampur for the Lok Sabha bypolls. Mr Raja, the Rampur city president of the party, is a close aide of party strongman and 10 time MLA Azam Khan. The last-minute announcement comes days after party chief Akhilesh Yadav met Mr Khan in Delhi following speculations of a rift. In a two hour chat with the sulking leader at a hospital, Mr Yadav had reportedly discussed the Rampur bypolls and left it to him to decide the candidate. Azam Khan had claimed that they hadn't met for over three years suggesting being overlooked and ignored by the party leadership.
Azam Khan was the Lok Sabha MP from Rampur but quit after he became an MLA in the February-March Uttar Pradesh election. His support for any Samajwadi Party candidate contesting from the seat in elections this month is crucial.
One of the Samajwadi Party's tallest Muslim leaders, he was reportedly upset with Akhilesh Yadav but on record, he has denied it. He was recently released on bail after 27 months in jail over allegations that included robbery and assault.
The BJP has named Ghanshyam Lodhi, a former Samajwadi Party MLC and an OBC leader who is known to be close to Azam Kham. Mr Lodhi had joined the BJP ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is not contesting this seat, and the Congress announced today that it will not contest either.
The by-elections for Rampur and Azamgarh were necessitated after sitting MPs Azam Khan and Akhilesh Yadav resigned following their election to the Legislative Assembly in March.
BJP has named Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua', the popular Bhojpuri actor who lost to Akhilesh Yadav in 2019, as its candidate from Azamgarh.
BSP has said it would field its former MLA Guddu Jamali alias Shah Alam in Azamgarh. Mr Jamali is a heavyweight candidate who returned to the BSP recently after quitting ahead of the state election
The Samajwadi Party has given the ticket to Dharmendra Yadav, three-time Lok Sabha MP and Akhilesh Yadav's cousin brother. Dharmendra Yadav lost the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to the BJP from western Uttar Pradesh's Budaun.
According to the Election Commission, polling in these two Samajwadi Party bastions will be held on June 23 and the counting of votes will be done on June 26.
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