The demise of Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav may alter the course of Uttar Pradesh politics in the coming days. Yadav, who died at the age of 80 in Gurugram, was a sitting MP of the Mainpuri constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
The Samajwadi Party has always had a stronghold in Mainpuri. The late SP supremo Yadav had represented this constituency 5 times in the Lok Sabha. The Mainpuri bypoll will now be the first litmus test for Akhilesh Yadav to prove his mettle after his father’s death.
Even if Akhilesh retains the seat in the bypoll, he will have to ‘save’ it again from the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections as the saffron party will be eyeing on the constituency.
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The Samajwadi Party’s loss in the Mainpuri constituency will send out a clear message of BJP's rising power in the state. This will even raise questions on Akhilesh’s leadership, which might affect his political dominance in the party and the state.
The Samajwadi Party had won only 5 seats – Sambhal, Rampur, Moradabad, Mainpuri, Azamgarh – in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. Out of these, it has already lost 2 seats – Azamgarh and Rampur – in the bypoll.
BJP's Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi defeated Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Asim Raja by 42,192 votes in the Rampur Lok Sabha (LS) bypoll.
In Azamgarh, BJP candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua' won against his nearest rival, Dharmendra Yadav of the Akhilesh Yadav-led party by 8,679 votes.
Winning the Mainpuri constituency bypoll is imperative for Akhilesh, considering the coming Lok Sabha elections. The tussle between the SP and the BJP in the bypoll will be a 'trailer' of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.