Lucknow, April 26: By-elections for the seat of Kairana and Noorpur in Uttar Pradesh will be held on Monday, May 28. The two seats witness a high-octane electoral contest between the state-ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a united Opposition front, comprising of the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and the Congress.
The fresh bypolls come nearly a couple of months after the BJP was humbled in Gorakhpur and Phulpur -- the seats last represented by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya. In the backdrop of the embarrassing loss at the hands of SP-BSP combine, the BJP left no stone unturned during the electioneering ahead of the polls, with the CM himself addressing multiple rallies in the two constituencies.
Kairana Lok Sabha Bypolls 2018:
Date of voting & results: The elections will be will held on May 28 across Kairana. Over 15 lakh voters are eligible to cast their mandate. The results will be declared by the Election Commission on May 31.
Last Results: In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the seat was bagged by BJP veteran Hukum Singh.
Reason For Bypoll: Hukum Singh passed on February 4, 2018, after being admitted in hospital for over a month. The 79-year-old was facing respiratory issues.
Candidates in Fray: The BJP has fielded Mriganka Singh, daughter of the deceased lawmaker from the constituency. Mriganka is being challenged by former MP Tabassum Hasan, who is contesting on the RLD ticket. The SP, BSP and Congress have backed the candidature of Tabassum.
Noorpur Assembly Bypolls 2018:
Date of voting & results: Voting in Noorpur assembly seat will be held on May 28, between 8 am to 5 pm. The counting of vote is scheduled by the Election Commission on May 31.
Last Results: In the 2017 assembly elections, the seat was won by BJP candidate Lokendra Singh Chauhan.
Reason For Bypoll: The by-election has been necessitated due to the death of the incumbent MLA. Chauhan was killed in a road accident on February 21, 2018, after his car met with an accident on Agra-Lucknow expressway near Sitapur.
Candidates in Fray: The BJP has fielded Avnish Singh, the wife of deceased MLA Chauhan. Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party has given the ticket to Naim Ul-Hasan, whose candidature is being backed by the SP, BSP and the Congress.
The bypoll results is awaited by pollsters across the nation as it would reflect the mood of Uttar Pradesh ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections next year. The state comprises of 80 parliamentary seats. The BJP+ had bagged 73 of them in 2014.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 26, 2018 04:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).