UP by-election: Akhilesh announces SP candidates on 6 seats, Congress upset, alliance in crisis
A day after the Congress' defeat in Haryana, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh announced its candidates for 6 of the 10 by-election seats. The decision has angered the Congress, as the Congress wanted to contest these seats too, especially the Majhawan seat. The Congress had demanded 5 seats, but the SP proposed to leave only the Ghaziabad Sadar seat. The move without coordination with the Congress has put the alliance in trouble. The Congress' next move is not yet decided, and the party is in a wait and watch position. Efforts to coordinate between the SP and the Congress in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections may also be affected.
indcnetwork 
INDC Network: Uttar Pradesh: Soon after the defeat of Congress in Haryana assembly elections, Akhilesh Yadav has announced the names of Samajwadi Party (SP) candidates on 6 seats in Uttar Pradesh in view of by-elections. Congress is upset with this decision, because Congress wanted to contest elections on these seats in alliance with SP.
According to Congress sources, Akhilesh Yadav has announced SP candidates for Karhal, Katehari, Milkipur, Sisamau, Phulpur and Majhawan seats without taking Congress into confidence. Congress wanted to stake its claim on 2 out of these 6 seats, and especially state president Ajay Rai wanted to contest from Majhawan seat. Rai was also recently made in-charge of Majhawan.
Congress had demanded to contest on 5 seats in the by-election, but Akhilesh has dashed Congress' hopes by announcing SP candidates on 6 seats. SP is now in the mood to leave Ghaziabad Sadar seat to Congress, while it is preparing to strengthen its position on other seats.
There has been no official comment from the Congress on the matter yet, but according to sources, the party is currently in a wait and watch position. However, this dispute may affect the alliance strategies, especially when the alliance of Congress and SP is important in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Political analysts say that this step of Akhilesh Yadav has been taken after not getting seats in Haryana and the deadlock over SP's demands in Maharashtra. SP wants to contest on 12 seats in Maharashtra, but Congress has not given any concrete assurance on this. In such a situation, Akhilesh has played his cards by ignoring Congress in the by-elections.
The candidates declared by SP for the seats include Tej Pratap Yadav from Karhal, Ajit Prasad from Milkipur, Shobhavati Verma from Katehari, Naseem Solanki from Sisamau, Mustafa Siddiqui from Phulpur and Jyoti Bind from Majhawan. SP has not yet declared its candidates for Kundarki, Khair, Meerapur and Ghaziabad Sadar seats.
