Lucknow, Mar 10: In run-up to the bye-elections in Uttar Pradesh from the Lok Sabha seats of Phulpur and Gorakhpur, an unprecedented political understanding came to the fore. Contrary to the predictions of most pundits, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) not only retracted from the bypoll race but also extended backchannel support to the Samajwadi Party.

Voting in the two seats will be held today, under the watch of 6,500 personnel of central armed paramilitary forces, the Election Commission informed.

Candidates in Gorakhpur

From Gorakhpur, a total of 22 candidates are in the fray. The prominent among them are BJP's Upendra Dutt Shukla, Congress' Sureetha Kareem, and Samajwadi Party's Pravin Nishad.

The bypoll in Gorakhpur was necessitated following the appointment of Yogi Adityanath, the incumbent MP, as the Chief Minister in March last year.

The seat has been represented by Adityanath for five consecutive terms since 1998.

Candidates in Phulpur

The by-election battle in Phulpur will feature a contest between 10 candidates. The prime contenders in the race are: BJP's Kaushlendra Singh Patel, SP's Nagendra Pratap, and Congress' Manish Mishra.

The seat fell vacant last year after the incumbent MP Keshav Prasad Maurya was appointed as the deputy CM, following BJP's landslide victory in the assembly elections.

Bypoll results to determine the fate of SP-BSP alliance

Following the crushing defeat of SP, Congress, and BSP in the 2017 assembly polls, speculations were rife over an alliance in the near-future between the anti-BJP parties to thwart the saffron forces in forthcoming polls.

However, BSP chief Mayawati earlier sounded a pessimistic note saying, "The BSP vote share is transferable, but not vica versa."

The mood altered after another round of defeat faced by the SP and BSP in the Sikandra bypoll held in December.

Pitching for a tie-up between Mayawati and Akhilesh, rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav said it is the "only solution" to thwart the BJP. "If we take the combined vote share of SP and BSP, it shows that people of UP have collectively preferred the socialist forces over the communal elements," said Yadav at a recent 'save composite culture' event organised by his supporters in Lucknow.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 10, 2018 07:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).