New Delhi: Top BJP leaders, including national president J.P. Nadda and Union home minister Amit Shah, held meetings on Sunday with the core group leaders of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to finalise the candidates for the upcoming bypolls. The meetings were also attended by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma.
Separate meetings were held for the two states to discuss candidate selection and seat-sharing strategies. In Uttar Pradesh, 10 Assembly seats will be contested in the bypolls, with the Election Commission yet to announce the official schedule. The BJP leadership also discussed seat-sharing arrangements with its allies.
The seats up for bypolls in Uttar Pradesh include Milkipur, Katihar, Majhwan, Phulpur Khair, Sundari, Meerapur, Kharhal, and Ghaziabad, which were vacated after their MLAs were elected as MPs in the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year. Additionally, the Sishamau seat is going to bypolls after its sitting Samajwadi Party MLA was disqualified due to a criminal case.
Among the key seats, Milkipur in Ayodhya is seen as the most prestigious. Although the Samajwadi Party's Awadhesh Prasad won the seat in the last Assembly elections, the BJP lost the corresponding Parliamentary seat to the SP, despite the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi just months before the general elections.
In terms of allies, RJD, led by Union minister Jayant Chaudhary, has expressed interest in contesting the Meerapur seat, which it won last time. Meanwhile, the Nishad Party, led by Uttar Pradesh Minister Sanjay Nishad, is eyeing two seats.
In Rajasthan, seven Assembly seats — Dausa, Jhunjhunu, Deoli Uniara, Chaurasia, Salumber, Khinvsar, and Ramgarh — are up for bypolls. Of these, three seats were previously held by Congress and two by regional parties. The sitting MLAs from these seats have now been elected to the Lok Sabha, necessitating the bypolls. The Ramgarh and Salumber seats were vacated due to the deaths of the sitting MLAs, one each from the Congress and BJP.
The BJP leadership is expected to announce the final list of candidates for both states soon, as the party looks to strengthen its position ahead of the bypolls.