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Bypoll
The Election Commission on Thursday rapped SSPs of Etawah and Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh and sought explanations for them for failing to follow its transfer and posting policy ahead of the Mainpuri Lok Sabha bypoll. It also directed transfer of six sub-inspectors. The commission's action came a day after the Samajwadi Party (SP) urged it to look into the failure of the state police to randomise police forces ahead of the December 5 bypoll necessitated following the death of party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav is pitted against BJP's Raghuraj Singh Shakya in the by-election. In a letter to the Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer (CEO), the Election Commission (EC) directed the senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Mainpuri to submit an explanation to it as to why disciplinary proceedings should not be initiated against him for "non-compliance of the commission's extant instructions and relevant provisions of Model Code of Conduct while
Bypolls to the Mainpuri parliamentary constituency will witness a direct contest between the Samajwadi Party's Dimple Yadav and the BJP'S Raghuraj Singh Shakya after seven of 13 nomination papers rejected during scrutiny, an election official said here on Saturday. The nomination of seven candidates, including Ramakant Kashyap of Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), were rejected during Friday's scrutiny, the official said. The bypoll in Mainpuri was necessitated by the death of Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. Thirteen candidates, including Kashyap and Independents, had filed their nominations from Mainpuri. November 21 is the last date for withdrawal of candidatures. The SP is aiming for a victory in its bastion to pay tribute to party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. It has also ensured support from party chief Akhilesh Yadav's uncle and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) (PSPL) President Shivpal Yadav. While Akhilesh Yadav and Shivpal Yadav have been estranged
The BJP on Tuesday named Raghuraj Singh Shakya, a former MP, as its candidate for the Lok Sabha bypoll to Mainpuri against Samajwadi Party's Dimple Yadav. Shakya was once a close associate of Shivpal Yadav but quit his Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party to join the BJP earlier this year. He was earlier in the Samajwadi Party (SP) and sided with Shivpal Yadav after he formed his own party. The bypoll has been necessitated due to the death of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Mainpuri has long been a pocket borough of his family. However, the BJP successfully breached the SP's citadels of Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats recently and is hoping to do the same in Mainpuri. Divisions in the Yadav clan due to Shivpal Yadav's fallout with his nephew and SP president Akhilesh Yadav have added to the BJP's hope as the senior Yadav enjoys some influence in Mainpuri. The BJP also named its nominees for the bypolls to two assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh and one each in Bihar, Rajasthan and .
The BJP's bypoll win in four of the six seats it contested has invigorated the party ahead of assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. It has given tough competition to erstwhile ally Nitish Kumar's Grand Alliance in Bihar and ended the BJD's winning run in Odisha. The Congress drew a blank in the seven assembly constituencies -- Adampur, Gola Gokarannath, Dhamnagar, Andheri (East), Mokama, Gopalganj and Munugode -- in six states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Odisha and Telangana that went to polls on November 3. The results were declared on Sunday. While the TRS managed to get a foothold by winning the high-stakes bypoll to Munugode Assembly constituency, it had to overcome a spirited challenge from the BJP. The bypoll assumed immense political significance as it was seen as a virtual semi-final ahead of next year's Legislative Assembly polls in Telangana. The TRS, recently renamed as Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), took it as a prestige issue as a loss would
The Congress on Saturday released its manifesto for the November 12 Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections in the presence of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. The party has promised to implement the old pension scheme, 30 units of free power and Rs 10 crore 'StartUp fund' in each constituency. Others present at the party's poll manifesto release included AICC in-charge for Himachal Rajeev Shukla, former PCC chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and AICC secretaries Tejinder Pal Bittu and Manish Chatrath. Party's poll manifesto committee chairman Dhani Ram Shandil said the BJP has failed to live up to the expectations of people and not fulfilled the promises made five years ago. "This is not just a poll manifesto but a document prepared for the development and welfare of the people of Himachal Pradesh," Shandil said. The Congress is banking on anti-incumbency factor and urging voters not to reelect the BJP in the state.
The bypoll to fill the Rajya Sabha seat vacated by BJP's Manik Saha after being made chief minister of Tripura will be held on September 22, the Election Commission said on Wednesday. Saha had quit Rajya Sabha on July 4. His six-year term as a member of the upper house was to otherwise end on April 2, 2028. The notification for the bypoll will be issued on September 5, the poll panel said. The counting of votes will take place on September 22 itself a hour after the conclusion of polling.