Former MLA Sudhakar Singh has been declared by Samajwadi Party (SP) as its candidate for the byelection to the Ghosi Assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh’s Mau district. The byelection was necessitated due to the resignation of SP MLA Dara Singh Chauhan, who joined the BJP on July 15.
Mr. Singh represented Ghosi between 2012 and 2017. The BJP is likely to field Mr. Chauhan, an Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader, who is considered a contender in the upcoming Cabinet expansion.
The Election Commission of India (EC) had announced that voting for the byelection will take place on September 5 while counting is scheduled on September 8. After declaring the candidature of Mr. Singh, the SP vowed to win the seat by a huge margin, adding the victory will show the country and the newly formed Opposition block INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), that the party is very well-placed to defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
“The Ghosi seat is always a SP bastion. We have won the seat on multiple occasions. Only the symbol of SP matters there. The people of the constituency will again elect our party by a huge margin, sending a clear message across U.P. and the country and to like-minded parties, that the defeat of the ruling BJP in 2024 is imminent in 80 Lok Sabha seats of U.P.,” said Sunil Singh Yadav Sajan, the SP national spokesperson.
Mr. Chauhan, was earlier with the BJP, holding the post of Minister for Forests, Environment and Animal Husbandry in the U.P. Cabinet from 2017 to 2022. He resigned in January 2022 before the 2022 Assembly election alleging discrimination by the BJP government against the backward classes, Dalits, and youth. He joined the SP and got elected as an MLA in the 2022 election before again switching sides in July.
