Lucknow, August 28: Mayawati was re-elected as president of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) at a meeting of the party's central executive body in Lucknow on Wednesday. Besides retaining Mayawati as its chief, the BSP also decided to contest Assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Delhi. The BSP also announced to contest on all 13 Assembly seats that will go to bypolls in Uttar Pradesh. Mayawati Flays Opposition For Jammu And Kashmir Visit, Defends Abrogation of Article 370.

These Assembly seats are Ghosi, Gangoh, Iglas, Tundla, Govind Nagar, Manikpur, Hamirpur, Lucknow Cantonment, Zaidpur and Balha, which the BJP won in 2017; Pratapgarh Sadar, won by Apna Dal-Sonelal; Rampur, won by SP and Jalalpur, which was won by BSP. Of the 13 Assembly constituencies where by-elections are due, the BSP declared candidates on 11 seats. Candidates for Jalalpur and Gangoh haven't been announced. Mayawati Slams Yogi Adityanath For Hike in Petrol, Diesel Prices.

While 11 seats will go to bypolls because the sitting MLAs have been elected to Lok Sabha, the Hamirpur seat was vacated after BJP legislator Ashok Singh Chandel was sentenced to life imprisonment in a 22-year old murder case. The Ghosi Assembly seat fell vacant after the Centre sent MLA Fagu Chauhan to Bihar as Governor. Earlier today, Mayawati batted for strong laws to check mob lynchings and stringent actions against the accused.

Taking to Twitter, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said, "In Uttar Pradesh, mob lynching has taken a new form. Now innocent women are being targeted by the mob. There is a panic among people as women are being beaten up and killed over suspicion of being child-lifters. The state government must take strict actions against such wrongdoings."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 28, 2019 03:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).