By-elections 2024: The ten seats in UP where assembly by-elections are to be held soon include Phulpur seat in Sangam city Prayagraj. The by-election in Phulpur is to be held because the MLA Praveen Patel has been elected as MP. A direct contest between BJP and Samajwadi Party is expected on this seat. This seat is not considered easy for BJP at all. In the 2022 assembly elections, BJP was able to win here only by a narrow margin of about two thousand votes, while in the Lok Sabha elections held two months ago, it had to face defeat by more than eighteen thousand votes.
However, after facing a crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, BJP has already started its preparations for the elections. Last week, the party organised the working committee meeting of Kashi province in Phulpur area itself and gave the message that its full focus is on making lotus bloom here. However, before the close fight with Samajwadi Party, BJP is having a tough time deciding the name of the candidate. So far, the names of about 40 contenders have come out from here. In the coming days, this number can increase to fifty.
Due to the large number of claimants, the problem before the party is that if one of them gets the ticket, the other claimants may get angry or inactive and sit at home and the organization may have to bear the brunt of it. However, in view of the caste equation, the party is planning to give the ticket to a Brahmin or a Patel. Most of the claimants for the ticket are also from these two classes. Yadav voters are also in a decisive position on the Phulpur assembly seat. In such a situation, the party strategists are also seriously considering fielding a Yadav candidate to make a dent in the opposition vote bank.
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A dozen Brahmin leaders staked their claim
About a dozen Brahmin leaders have staked claim for the ticket from Phulpur seat. The biggest name among the Brahmin class claimants is former president of Allahabad High Court Bar Association Radhakant Ojha. He has a strong influence in the Sangh. His brother has been a cabinet minister in UP and he was also a strong contender for the ticket from Allahabad seat in the Lok Sabha elections. Apart from this, former MLA Prabhashankar Pandey, former district president Kanhaiya Lal Pandey, former district vice president Arun Kumar Mishra alias Pintu Neta, Bahria block chief Shashank Mishra, school operator Sangam Lal Mishra, DP Pandey and former councilor Umesh Dwivedi are also major contenders.
The most prominent name among those staking claim from the Patel community is that of former MLA Deepak Patel. He is the son of outgoing Phulpur MP Keshari Devi Patel. Lok Sabha Elections In 2015, the party had denied Keshari Devi’s ticket. In such a situation, her resentment can be removed by making her son the candidate. Goldie Patel, wife of current MP Praveen Patel, is also one of the strong contenders. However, she has not yet formally applied. Anirudh Patel, a relative of MP Praveen Patel, is also seeking a ticket. Nagendra Patel, who was an MP from Phulpur Lok Sabha seat, is in the ally party Apna Dal S, but he also wants a BJP ticket from here. Apart from this, Phoolpur’s block pramukh Jitendra Singh Patel, former MLA Karan Singh Patel’s son and senior party leader Vikram Patel, Gangapar’s district president Kavita Patel and youth leader Vipendra Patel are also staking claim.
The number of Yadav voters in Phulpur assembly seat is about sixty thousand. In such a situation, some party leaders are demanding to field a Yadav candidate. BJP also has two strong Yadav leaders here. Bahadurpur block pramukh Arunendra Yadav alias Dabbu Yadav is making a strong claim. He has also demonstrated his political skills in the block pramukh election. He can also get the benefit of popularity in the area and being close to a big leader of the party. Apart from this, Kashi region vice-president and Nagar Panchayat chairman Amarnath Yadav also wants a ticket from here.
A large number of claims are also from the Vaishya community
After Brahmin and Patel, a large number of leaders from the Vaishya community have also staked their claim. Former metropolitan president and current vice-president of Kashi province Awadhesh Gupta is making all efforts to get the ticket. He may get the advantage of being from the OBC category. He is considered to be very close to Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya. Among other claimants from the Vaishya community, former Chail MLA Sanjay Gupta, district treasurer Ashish Kesarwani, business cell convenor Rambabu Kesarwani, Namami Gange convenor Gopinath Swarnkar are staking their claim. From the Kshatriya community, former block chief of Sahaso Rakesh Singh and women’s front official Vijayalakshmi Singh Chandel have staked their claim. From the Pal community, former district vice-president Chandrakesh Pal and district minister Kamlesh Pal want the ticket. Former MLC and sharp woman leader Nirmala Paswan, who comes from the Dalit class, is also among the claimants. She was also seeking a Lok Sabha ticket from the Kaushambi seat. In such a situation, she can get the advantage of being the only female candidate from the Dalit community. The name of Anamika Chaudhary, former deputy mayor of Nishad community and an official in the state executive, is also in the list of contenders.
If we talk about the caste equations of Phulpur, then Yadav-Patel, Brahmin and Muslim voters are in a decisive position here. These four classes have about 60% votes. This is the reason why BJP is planning to field a candidate from either Patel or Brahmin class in the by-election. By the way, if the party plays a master stroke to create a stir in the SP camp by giving a ticket to a Yadav leader, then there is nothing surprising in that.