Karhal by-poll: BJP intensifies search for candidate to take on SP’s Tej Pratap Yadav

Agra After Samajwadi Party national general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav on Monday announced the party’s former Mainpuri MP Tej Pratap Singh Yadav as the party’s candidate for bypoll to Karhal assembly seat of Mainpuri, hectic activities are on in the BJP to select a candidate who can stop another member of the Saifai family from entering the assembly .

Till now, the BJP had been taking time to select the party candidate for Karhal by-poll. Union minister and MP from Agra, Prof SP Singh Baghel had contested against SP candidate Akhilesh Yadav in the 2022 assembly elections but lost. However, Akhilesh contested the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat this year and won, vacating the Karhal seat.

During his visit to Karhal in August month, deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak had claimed that the BJP would win the Karhal by-election by a significant margin. “It is the people who own the constituency, not those who believe it is their invincible fort,” said Pathak, indirectly referring to the SP which has party MP Dimple Yadav representing Mainpuri in the Lok Sabha.

Pathak had been visiting Karhal and meeting party workers while assessing preparations for the upcoming by-election.

“Karhal is not an impregnable fort for anyone; it belongs to the people, who have decided to ensure a landslide victory for the BJP in the by-election,” Pathak had stated though he remained noncommittal about the BJP’s candidate for the by-election, saying, “Time will tell.”

Given the caste combinations with Shakyas being second to Yadavs in numbers in Karhal, party leaders have intensified search for a suitable candidate with various combinations in mind . The BJP had made inroads in nearby Bhongaon and Mainpuri Sadar city but is yet to make its presence felt in Karhal.

However, things changed on Monday when SP national general secretary Prof Ram Gopal Yadav opted not to wait for declaration for by-poll date and urged the gathering he was addressing , to vote for SP candidate Tej Pratap Singh Yadav.

“Tej Pratap Yadav will be SP candidate from Karhal assembly seat and thus party workers should ensure that neither is the polling percentage low nor the victory margin less. Party workers should keep aside internal conflicts to ensure Tej Pratap’s victory by a record margin from the SP bastion,” the Ram Gopal Yadav at a public meeting in Mainpuri on Monday.

By-polls to 10 assembly seats, including Karhal, in Uttar Pradesh will be held soon.

“The BJP lacks niti (policy), niyat (intention) and neta (leader) and thus people should vote for leaders who practise what they preach. Thus, the SP candidate deserves to get votes,” Ram Gopal Yadav said during his speech.

“We have an important task to win by-polls which will set the momentum for change in the 2027 state (UP) assembly elections,” Prof Yadav said.