Lucknow: As a fierce political battle is going on in Ghosi, Uttar Pradesh which goes to poll on Wednesday, the latest announcement from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has created a fresh controversy. The BSP supremo has directed its workers to abstain from voting or press NOTA in the Ghosi by-poll on September 5.
The state president of BSP, Vishwanath Pal has made it clear that his party is not at all involved in the Ghosi by-elections and hence its advice is to abstain from polling booths. He said that as a principle, BSP has decided not to contest the by-election of Ghosi. Besides, the party has also decided not to extend support to any of the candidates.
BSP voters can press NOTA and abstain from voting
In such a situation the BSP voters would either sit ideally at home or press NOTA. He said that BJP has started a new practice in which the opposition legislators are being asked to resign from the assembly. BSP president said that in protest of this trend his party has decided to boycott the by-election of Ghosi.
There are around 90,000 Dalit voters in Ghosi assembly segment and a majority of them used to support BSP. In the bi-polar elections of 2022, BSP candidate in Ghosi polled more than 50,000 votes. The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and Samajwadi Party which are locked in a direct fight in the Ghosi by-poll have kept their fingers crossed due to the BSP’s decision to abstain from polling. According to them, the 90,000 plus Dalit voters in Ghosi have the capacity to change the result of the by-election. In the 2022 UP assembly poll BSP’s candidate from Ghosi, Wasim Iqbal polled 54248 votes while in the 2019 by-polls Qayyum Ansari got 50775 votes. However, in the 2017 assembly polls, the BSP candidate from Ghosi Abbas Ansari had got 81,295 votes.
Fierce electoral competition in UP
By-elections in Ghosi have become a show of strength for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and recently former I.N.D.I.A. alliance of opposition parties. For the first time in a by-election of UP the alliance partners of NDA and I.N.D.I.A. are seen actively campaigning and toiling hard for their respective candidate. Congress, Rashtriya Lok Dal and Apna Dal (K) from I.N.D.I.A. have been fully backing Samajwadi candidate while NDA alliance partners Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), Apna Dal (S) and Nishad Party have been extensively campaigning for BJP.
By-election in Ghosi has been necessitated after the SP legislator from this seat, Dara Singh Chauhan resigned from the party as well as an assembly in July this year to join BJP. Chauhan was a cabinet minister in the previous Yogi Government but had resigned a month before the 2022 assembly polls to join BJP. In 2022 Dara Singh contested as SP candidate from Ghosi and won.
